Wicked Heart Beat
by yv1029
Summary: With the end of junior year quickly approaching, the descendants find themselves in a whirlwind of end of year antics and promises of summer. But friendships are tested, secrets are kept and feelings are revealed. Whoever said happily ever after came easy? [Sequel to Listen to Your Heart] {Completed} BOOK 3: EVIL HEARTS IS OUT!
1. A Secret

Carlos was having happy, peaceful dreams until he felt a foreign weight on his chest and someone whispered in his ear. Thinking it was his imagination, he went back to sleep.

Evie groaned. She kept whispering his name, but Carlos would not wake up. Mal wasn't having any luck with Jay either. The girls caught each other's gaze and had an idea. Soon enough both of them were jumping on their friends' beds screaming their names at the top of their lungs.

"Carlos!"

"Jay!"

"CARLOS!"

"JAY!"'

"Ok I'm up!" Jay yelled, rolling out of bed. He stuck his tongue out at them and went to the bathroom. Carlos still was laying on his bed with a pillow over his head.

Evie got down and started yelling in his ear. That only made Carlos groan and start hitting her head, messing up her hair."Does this thing have a snooze button?"

Even scoffed and fixed her hair. Then she took a hold of Carlos's leg while Mal got the other and they pulled Carlos off his bed. He landed with a hard thud to the floor.

"Ow!" He whined, getting off the floor. He rubbed his sore butt and sat on his bed, wincing. He threw one of his pillows at Mal who expertly dodged it."What was that for?"

"Hey,it's not our fault you disappeared last night and overslept." Mal said matter of factly.

"Yeah, speaking of which, where did you go?" Evie asked. "You and Jay weren't in your rooms after the dance ended."

"We already know that Jay was having a screaming match with Audrey, like he'd ever win," Mal laughed.

"I heard that!" Jay said from the bathroom.

Mal and Evie laughed. "I know!" Mal yelled back.

"And she didn't win!" Jay yelled.

Carlos just rolled his eyes. "Get over it Jay!" They didn't have to see him, to know Jay was pouting in the shower.

"So Carlos," Evie started. "Where did you go?"

Carlos fidgeted, putting on his shirt."Why do you want to know?"

"Ooh, he's hiding something!" Evie squealed.

"It's nothing," Carlos said, getting annoyed.

"Carlos-" Mal started. But she was interrupted when her cellphone rang. "Hold on. Hello?"

"Who is it?" Evie asked.

Mal mouthed 'Ben'. "Yeah okay. We're on our way."

"What was that about?" Jay said. He finished getting dressed and was styling his hair. "Evie I wasn't a fan of this short hair at first but I gotta admit it's a lot easier to maintain."

"Thank you." Evie said like it was obvious that she was right.

"Guys," Mal spoke up. "It's 10:47. The tourney game starts at 11:00. We're late.!"

"What!" Carlos yelled.

"Yeah," Evie said. "That's why we were trying to wake you guys up! Today is Saturday! Today is the tourney championship game!"

"Oh snap!" Jay yelled. He and Carlos rushed around their room getting dressed, Jay trying to find his uniform while Carlos looked for a clean pair of pants. Evie and Mal just watched in amusement as the boys rampaged their already filthy room looking for something semi clean. Eventually Jay found his jersey and Carlos found some shorts to change out of his pajamas. In 5 minutes they were ready to go.

The four friends made their way down the hall of the boy dorms when Ben bounded their way with Chad and Lonnie. "There you are Jay! We've been waiting for you. We've got five minutes to make it to the tourney field!"

"Oh my gosh! Let's go!" Jay said. All three tourney players ran to the field while the rest of their friends decided to just walk there. Evie couldn't exactly run in her heels.

"Jay has got to get his head in the game. We're down one player because Ali got punched in his face and has a black eye." Lonnie said. Carlos gulped, hoping his friends wouldn't catch on.

"What?" Evie said concerned. "What happened?"

"Supposedly he said he walked into a pole, but no one is buying it." Lonnie continued. "Fairy Godmother thinks he got into a fight and he won't tell her who else was involved. Whoever did hit him is going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Wait a minute!" Mal said, stopping and snapping her fingers. "Carlos! You never told us where you went last night!"

"Ugh. You're still on that?" Carlos groaned.

"Yes," Evie answered. "Now spill!"

"Fine," Carlos grumbled. "You're going to find out eventually. Do you guys know what happened yesterday with Jane?"

"Omg! Yes!" Lonnie exclaimed. "Ali is such a jerk for what he did to her!"

"What did he do? Mal asked.

Carlos sighed. "Well, Annabelle dumped me when we got to Prom and Jane caught Ali and her making out. She ran away crying and I followed her to her 'secret cove' and comforted her because I was feeling pretty low myself after being dumped. Nothing else happened.

"Really?" Evie asked incredulously. "Ali is a bigger jerk than Chad! No offense Lonnie.

"None taken."

"Hold up," Mal said, confused. "Carlos, are you the one who punched Ali?"

"No..."

"Then why are your knuckles bruised?" Evie pointed out.

"Okay fine, I punched Ali and gave him a black eye!" Carlos admitted. "But he deserved it for making Jane cry."

"Seems like you're getting awfully upset on Jane's behalf," Lonnie smirked. "Is there a particular reason why?"

"What! No!" Carlos lied.

"Way to go Carlos!" Mal cheered. "Didn't know that you had that in you. I've never been prouder." She pretends to wipe tears away and fanned herself. "My baby's growing up."

"And you say I'm dramatic," Evie said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Guys, do you think I'll get in trouble?" Carlos asked, worried.

"I'm pretty sure if you explain to Fairy Godmother what happened, she'll understand," Lonnie said.

"I hope you're right."

"I always am."

"Carlos, did anything else happen yesterday?" Evie asked, suspicious.

They finally made it to the tourney field where the game was already 10 minutes in and Auradon had scored a point. Carlos devised a plan to ditch the girls for no further questioning. "Nope. Gotta run. I need to use the little boys room!"

The girls watched him as he ran towards the back of the stadium, where the bathrooms were. They made their way to the bleachers to watch the tourney game.

But Evie wasn't convinced. Carlos was hiding something. There was something that happened yesterday that Carlos wasn't admitting and she was going to find out what.


	2. Insecurities

Carlos was staring at his friends cheering on Jay, Ben and Chad. Mal, Evie and Lonnie were literally fangirling. Carlos chuckled. Lonnie and Evie had finally rubbed off on Mal. But then again, Mal was a girl in love. That must feel nice. Carlos looked over at the marching band and caught Doug stealing glances at Evie every once in a while. He turned to the field and saw the guys kicking butt.

He frowned. So Doug was super smart and had musical talent. The rest of the guys were super athletic. They all had girlfriends and Jay could literally get almost any girl he wanted. Where did that leave him? The scrawny awkward guy who was way to close to his dog. Who couldn't even keep a date for prom. Was he pathetic. He considered going up in the stands with his friends, but suddenly he wasn't in the mood to watch his friends be better than him. He decided maybe a nap would suit him better.

They had won! Auradon had won! The first time in 20 years, Auradon had won the tourney championship! The close group of friends were all surrounding the tourney players. Ben and Chad lifted Jay up in the air and soon the rest of the tourney team helped them and all shouted.

"MVP!"

"MVP!"

"MVP!"

Eventually they put him down and all the girls hugged him. Even Audrey stuck her hand out, but Jay hugged her anyway.

"Eww!" She squealed. "Jay get off of me! You're all sweaty and gross!" She pushed him off.

"Well in that case," Jay said. He hugged her again, this time Ben and Chad joining.

"Ew! Ew! EW!" Audrey yelled. They eventually let her go and she started hitting them all.

"Ok our turns," Mal said and she and Lonnie hugged their respective boyfriends. Doug and Evie were holding hands in the side, waiting for their turn. After the boys released their girlfriends they hugged their favorite mascot, Jane.

"Well you did an awesome job out there Jane," Jay said.

Jane blushed. "Really? Because Lonnie helped me with some dance moves."

"Well I must've taught you well," Lonnie laughed. "Because Jane, you were killing it."

Jane only blushed more. The older kids laughed. Finally Evie and Doug came up and hugged their friends. Evie held out three varsity jackets she had made for the entire team.

"Evie, these are wicked!" Chad said. "In a good way, of course."

"Mine even says MVP!" Jay said.

"Instead of my name, you put King?"Ben laughed. Evie giggled.

"Of course. There's a million Bens, but only one King." Evie explained.

"Aww, that's so sweet. Thanks Evie," Ben said.

"Um, has anybody seen Carlos?" Mal asked, looking around.

"Wasn't he with you guys?" Jay said.

"He ditched us right before the game started and we haven't seen him since." Evie explained.

"Why exactly did he ditch you?" Ben asked, smirking.

"We may have been pestering him a bout something and he got upset. He's probably in his dorm and mad at us," Evie said.

"Based on what happened," Mal said. "I think we give him some space. He'll come to us when he's ready."

"Well, why don't we all have lunch at my castle!" Ben announced. "Lumiere has a delicious meal waiting for us."

"I'll catch up later," Jane said. "I have to take this mascot costume off. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be my own knight in shining armor."

Everyone laughed and said their goodbyes. Jane made her way to her dorm. She arrived and took a quick shower, but avoiding washing her hair because that would take forever to dry. She changed into a simple light blue dress and nude flats. She looked at herself in the mirror.

She frowned. She was chunky. She wasn't as naturally thin as the other girls. Nor was she as tall. Her face was still the mess it had always been. She sighed. She'd never be as perfect as her friends. They all had boyfriends with the exception of Audrey. She chuckled. Audrey had a thing with Jay and was currently dating Florian Jr. And what about her? The only guy to ever ask her out, cheats on her. She couldn't even last 2 hours without him ditching her.

What did she even have to offer? Mal was beautiful and amazing at drawing and baking. Evie was super smart, great housewife material, gorgeous and a budding fashion designer. Audrey was well off, a princess, beautiful, and a cheerleader which meant she was athletic. Lonnie was beautiful, tall, edgy, and an amazing dancer.

Where did that leave her? She was just plain Jane. She wiped away the tears that were staining her cheeks and fixed her makeup. She grabbed her purse, put on a brave face, and went on her way to Ben's castle.


	3. Gone Boy

Jane arrived at the palace in time for the royal lunch. She was escorted by a guard to the main dining hall where all her friends were already seated, animately talking about the tourney championship. In such a large place, Jane had never felt so small.

"Jane," Ben said. "Why don't you sit down?"

"We saved you a seat," Mal said, pointing to the chair beside her. Jane sat down between Mal and Jay, with Carlos directly across from her. She hadn't realized he had even appeared until Mal mentioned him.

"We're sorry if we upset you," Mal apologized.

"Nah, it's cool." Carlos said. "I guess I overreacted."

"Well who's ready for he first course?" King Beast asked. He was met with a holler. "Very well then. Guards!"

Waiters and guards around them brought out salads and soup with bread and butter. They poured wine for the adults and sparkling cider for the teenagers.

"Uh, no thank you," Jane told the guard. "Water for me please."

"What's the matter Jane?" Audrey asked. "You love anything fizzy."

"I do, but mother says I shouldn't drink so many sugary beverages because it's bad for your teeth." Jane wasn't completely lying. Her mother had said that, but that wasn't the only respond she didn't want it.

The second course was served with Jane only taking a bite of her salad and slowly slurping her soup. The waiters brought out hors d'ouvres, stuffed mushroom in a garlic aioli. By the third course, poached salmon with mousseline sauce, Jane had barely taken a bite of anything.

"Jane, is there any particular reason you are not eating?" Queen Belle asked, worried. All eyes were on Jane at the luncheon and she started to feel uncomfortable. Even Jay stopped pigging out and focused his attention to the younger girl next to him.

"No, not at all! Everything looks delicious!" Jane lied. "Actually I had a rather large breakfast and I'm not that hungry. Actually if you'll excuse me, I promised my mother I would help her with some paperwork."

"Of course," Queen Belle said politely. Everyone watched Jane get up and leave the castle. Mal wasn't hungry anymore. Carlos lost his appetite, too. Something was wrong with Jane, he just didn't know what.

After lunch, the teens excused themselves to the game room. Currently they were watching Chad and Jay duke it out at "Battle Heroes", a stimulation game. They backed away, fearing for their lives as Jay and Chad swung their arms in an attempt to one up each other.

"Jane was weird at lunch, right?" Mal asked.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. Mal rolled her eyes. Poor Ben, so cute yet so clueless.

"She hardly ate anything," Mal explained.

"She said she had a large breakfast," Doug said. "But I saw her this morning and all she had was oatmeal and toast."

"That's not large, according to anyone's standards," Evie said. "But know Jane. She'd tell us if something was bothering her. She's probably just feeling a little sick. Some rest will do her well."

"What's up Carlos?" Lonnie said, noticing his silence. "You haven't said a word all afternoon."

"Oh. It's nothing." Carlos said. "I'm just thinking that I have yet to find my 'niche'".

"Your 'niche'?" Mal asked.

"You know, like a hobby or a club or something," Carlos explained.

"Well tourney's out," Jay chuckled. "Because we used you as a punching bag. And that was pretty rough. Although the not as bad as what Audrey did to the actual punching bag in the gym." Chad and him burst into laughter.

"How did you know about that?" Audrey hissed. She immediately whipped her head around to Ben. "Ben!"

He raised up his hands in defense. "I didn't tell anyone I swear! The only other person who knew was Mal, because she was there."

If looks could kill, Mal would be a goner. "Mal! Why would you tell Jay?"

"I didn't," Mal said. "I only told Evie."

"I told Lonnie," Evie said.

"Well I told Chad," Lonnie spoke up.

"And I told Carlos," Chad said from his game. He beat Jay who was ailing on the couch as Carlos and Chad played next.

"And Carlos told me," Jay said, smugly.

Audrey hugged in indignation. "Well it's not a big deal."

"Oh no, no, no, princess, it is a big deal. You punched the stuffing out of a punching bag," Jay chuckled. " I got to admit that's pretty impressive."

"Did Jay just compliment someone?" Mal said, smirking.

Jay rolled his eyes and Audrey tried to hide her blush. "It's not that impressive. Besides why do you insist on calling me that?"

Jay's eyebrows furrowed. "What? Princess?"

"Yes," Audrey said matter-of-factly. "It's annoying."

"Can't help calling you what you are."

"And what would that be?" Audrey asked in a threatening tone. Jay either didn't hear her tone or didn't care enough to not annoy her.

"A prissy, pink spoiled princess," he said. Audrey face turned red and she screamed. She slapped Jay in his cheek and stormed out of Ben's castle. Jay stood in shock at just being slapped, but soon brushed it off, earning laughter from his friends.

"I think that went well," was his sarcastic remark.

"You just love to get a rise out of her?" Ben chuckled.

"It's what I do," Jay said, taking Carlos's spot in the game.

"Anyway," Carlos said. "I really want to find something to join at school."

"It's a little late, isn't it?" Mal asked. "In like a month summer vacation starts, right Ben?"

"Yeah, Carlos. Most clubs are disbanding for the end of the school year," Ben said.

"Ooh!" Evie squealed, causing both Chad and Jay to lose. They both cursed and grumbled under their breath and restarted the game. "You could join the scholastic decathlon team!"

"What's that?" Carlos asked

"It's nerd central!" Chad yelled over his shoulder.

Evie rolled her eyes. "It's an academic club in which a team of 5 students goes and competes against another school. I'm on it."

"As am I," Doug said. He was reading a book a DJ had just tuned into the conversation. "It's quite competitive and intense. You might like it."

"Yeah," Lonnie agreed. "I'm on it, too. My specialty is music and sports. Eve is is design and mathematics. Doug has any and all sciences down. You could help us with robotics and engineering. We've been needing another member to join for next week's competition. We lost a senior and we need a minimum of 5 to compete."

"Wait, 5?" Carlos asked. "That's only makes 4. Who else is on the team?"

"Um, " Doug said. "That would be Jane. She specializes in literature, grammar, foreign language, culture, history, geography, basically anything we don't cover, she does."

"Hmm," Carlos thought for a moment. "You know what? That sounds like fun! I'm in!"

"Really"Evie said. "Because you finally found your niche or because of something else?"

Carlos frowned." Because I finally found my niche. What else would it be?"

"Oh I don't know, "Evie smirked. "Maybe because a certain blue wearing brunette girl is on the team."

Carlos knew exactly what she was talking about, but he was going to play dumb. "Evie don't flatter yourself," he sneered.

Evie rolled her eyes." Don't ask so oblivious! You know who I'm talking about! Jane? Ring a bell? You punched a guy in her honor?"

"Wait you did what?" Ben asked.

Evie realized her mistake, but before she could apologize, Carlos was gone.


	4. Rumor

After lunch, everyone went back to their dorms to relax and do whatever they may wish. Currently, Audrey was on her phone scrolling through social media, while her roommate Crystal was curling her hair for a date.

Suddenly Audrey let out a blood curdling scream. Crystal yelped and cursed under her breath. Her curling iron had fallen and landed in her bare foot. She hobbled out of the bathroom holding her foot, only to knock into her nightstand, causing a half opened nail polish bottle to fall and spill on their carpet.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Crystal asked, worried for her friend.

"No, but my reputation is!" Audrey said holding out her phone. Crystal rolled her eyes but still skimmed through the latest post on Royalgram. It was a picture of Audrey and Jay at prom during their little dance off. The caption read 'Enemies, frenemies, or something more? Looks like Sleeping Beauty's daughter has found her own prince charming!'

"That's what you screamed about?" Crystal asked, annoyance clear in her tone. She rubbed her foot and returned to the bathroom. "It's not that big a deal, Audrey. So people think you and Jay are a thing. Get over it."

Audrey appeared at the bathroom door. "It IS a big deal! How could anyone think we're a thing?"

"Well...you two did look cozy on that dance floor," Crystal smirked. Audrey visibly paled and gulped. But she still let out a huff of annoyance.

"Crystal! Stop!" Audrey exclaimed. "You know we're not dating!"

"It wouldn't be so crazy, you know?"Crystal laughed. "I'm pretty sure Jay wouldn't mind."

"You're right!" Audrey said."You know what? I bet stupid Jay posted this! I'm going to kill him!I cannot have my reputation tainted!"

"Would it be so bad if you did start dating Jay?" Crystal teased. Audrey didn't answer as she stormed out of their dorm.

"98, 99, 10-" Jay paused counting his push ups when he heard a loud banging on his door. He knew it wasn't Carlos coming back from studying for the scholastic decathlon because Carlos wouldn't knock to enter his own room.

Jay picked up his towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead and took a sip of water as he approached his door. To his surprise it wasn't one of his best friends but instead Audrey, obviously too peeved to notice her appearance. Her hair was in a braid and she was wearing black leggings and an oversized jersey. She wore no makeup and was wearing pink fuzzy bunny slippers.

Jay couldn't help but think that she still looked beautiful. Not that he'd ever admit it. "Sup Audrey, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Save it!" Audrey said, holding up her hand. She barged into his room and started pacing.

"Ok?" Jay said, confused.

"Care to explain this?" Audrey asked, pushing her phone into his face. Jay squinted from the bright light and read the caption underneath the picture she showed him.

"Hey," Jay said defensively. "If you think I posted that, you're sadly mistaken. I literally just saw this right now."

"You didn't post it?" Audrey asked.

"No," Jay replied casually. "But someone obviously did and by the looks of it, the whole school has seen that picture."

"Ugh!" Audrey said, sitting unknowingly on Jay's bed. "My life is over!"

Jay frowned. "Just because people think we're a 'thing', your life is over?"

"Um, duh."

"Ok, I know we're not exactly friends, but I'm not that bad." Jay said, trying to hide his hurt from her comments.

Audrey sat up and looked like she was about to explode. "Oh my gosh! It's not even that! I don't like you like that. Me date a VK? Come on! That's ridiculous. Sure, Doug and Ben did it. But I'm a princess. I have to be dating a prince, and well, you're not a prince."

Jay winced. He felt like he just got slapped. "Ok, you made your point. But it's not like is the worst thing that could happen, okay?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay's eyes narrowed.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm Royal and you're not. You don't have to deal with all the same issues I have to deal with. Do you know how badly my reputation could be ruined if people started think that you and I were dating?" Audrey scoffed. "It's very simple. People like me and people like you don't cross paths that way."

"People like me?" Jay said, getting angry. "You know what? You're nothing but a stuck up princess who always gets what she wants, not caring who she has to step over or who she hurt to get it!"

"Bite me!" She hissed.

"I was right to judge you, you may be pretty and all but I can see why Ben chose Mal over you!" Jay spat. Audrey visibly winced. Jay could see the hurt in her eyes but he didn't care. She wanted to make him feel like crap, well he was going to return the favor. "Mal may be Maleficent's daughter, but she would never be as cruel and heartless as you! The real villain here is you!"

Jay took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't realize during their argument, he and Audrey had gotten closer to each other. Their faces were so close, that one slight move might mean lip locking for the two teens.

Audrey bit her lip, taking in all of Jay's words. She held back tears, and furiously wiped at her eyes, not wanting to succumb to her emotions, especially in front of Jay. "I hate you!" She yelled in his face. She turned on her heel and stormed out of his room.

It wasn't until she was out of his room that he realized she was wearing his jersey.


	5. Aftermath

Mal and Evie were watching a movie on Mal's laptop when they heard a soft knock on their door. It was 8:30 at night, so it was kind of late for visitors. Still Evie got off of Mal's bed,put on her fuzzy slippers, and opened the door. To her surprise it wasn't her friends, but instead Crystal White.

"Um, hey Evie," Crystal said, shyly. She held up a pillow and a blanket. "Could I crash here for the night?"

"What? Why?" Mal said, appearing at the door.

"Um, Audrey is kind of unbearable right now," Crystal admitted. "She and Jay had another little tiff."

"A little tiff?" Evie asked. "If it was, you wouldn't have been kicked out of your room."

"Well I don't know exactly what happened. It all went down in Jay's room and Audrey is to busy being angry to talk about it," Crystal said.

"Well, you make yourself at home," Mal said. "We've got some business to take care of."

With that, Mal and Evie made their way to Jay and Carlos's room. When they turned the corner they saw Carlos sitting on the floor,opposite the door on his laptop. Currently he was editing a video for his tech class.

"Um, Carlos," Mal asked casually. Watcha doing?"

"Homework." Was his reply.

Of course he was being difficult. Mal still held her composure. "Well why ?"

"To pass."

"Ok. Well why are you doing it out here?"

"Because I can't do it in my own room."

"Oh for Pete's sake!" Evie exclaimed. "Why the heck are you sitting on the floor outside your room?"

"Trust me, you don't want to go in there," Carlos warned. "Jay is PISSED. I don't think I've ever seen him so mad before. I have no idea why."

"I have a clue," Mal said. She braced herself for the storm to come, but what she saw inside was not what she was expecting. The boys' room was not a disaster(well no more than usual). And Jay was facing away from her but seemed to be calmly sitting on his bed. But then she heard sniffling. Upon further inspection she realized that Jay was crying. Crying! Jay never cried. This was bad.

"Jay?" Mal approached.

Jay furiously tried to wipe away his tears. "Oh hey Mal, I didn't hear you come in. "

"Jay are you okay?"

"Yeah, never better."

"Jay. I-I heard about your little 'argument' with Audrey."

"Oh you heard about that?"

Mal sighed. "Yeah I did."

"Well it didn't go as well as I hoped."

"I know. Crystal was kicked out of her room. And apparently so was Carlos." Jay snorted. Mal rubbed his back. "Is everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't things be okay?"

"Because you're crying. Jay you never cry. What happened?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it right now. It's been a long day and all I want to do right now is sleep." Jay rolled over on his side.

Mal sighed. "Okay."

"Oh and tell Carlos he can come in. I'm fine."

Mal laughed. "Alright. Good night." But as she left she glanced over her shoulder to her friend. He looked absolutely crushed, but he wouldn't tell her why. For the first time, Mal didn't have the heart to meddle.

"And he was just so broken," Mal said, munching on a chip. She just finished recounting what happened earlier with Jay to Evie and Crystal. "Poor guy, I don't think I've ever seen him so upset."

"You should have seen Audrey," Crystal commented between bites of pizza. Having Crystal in their dorm, they decided to have a girls night."She was wallowing in self pity and anger."

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting super depressed talking about our friends' problems," Evie said getting up to get more popcorn. "Can we worry about that tomorrow?"

"As much as I'd love to disagree with you, you're right," Mal admitted. "So what do you want to talk about."

"How about the fact that you and Doug are officially an item!" Crystal practically squealed. Evie giggled.

"What's there to say? I liked him, he liked me, he finally got the guts to ask me out, and I said yes!" Evie giggled with delight.

"I have to take the credit for that," Crystal bragged. "I realized he wasn't into me as much as I was into him, so after a little pep talk, he went up and kissed you. I guess you could call me a matchmaker."

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot about that!" Evie said. "I'm so sorry!"

"No hard feelings," Crystal insisted. "Life moves on and so do I."

"That's a great attitude!" Mal praised.

"And I'm sure your prince is just around the corner," Evie said.

"Thanks but I think I want to focus on my studies for a little while and not boys." Crystal admitted.

"Well that's good," Evie said. "I'm thinking of auditioning for the school musical!"

"Ugh, really?" Mal laughed.

Evie looked indignant. "Yes. I'm a natural born actress. Can't you tell?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Okay first of all, stop that," Crystal said. "It's creepy. And second, good luck. Audrey always gets the lead. So does Ben. But I think Audrey is to preoccupied with her problems to audition this year. So maybe you do have a chance!"

Evie rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the words of encouragement." She giggled.

"Gosh, I wish things could have been like this back on the Isle," Mal said.

Evie nodded. "Yeah who would've thought that you'd get a boyfriend before me! Or at all! And a prince too! Or um a king now!"

Mal blushed. "Shut up Evie!" She threw a pillow that hit Evie square in the face. Mal started hysterically laughing.

"Oh you're gonna get it now!" Evie exclaimed. She threw the pillow back, but Mal moved out of the way so instead she hit Crystal. "Sorry!"

"Ok! Now it's on!" Crystal said. Soon enough the three girls were having a full fledged pillow fight.

They were having so much fun they didn't hear a soft knock on the door. Then the doorknob turned and in stepped Fairy Godmother. They all immediately stopped.

"Tomorrow may be only Sunday, but some people are trying to sleep," she reprimanded. "Now go to bed girls."

"Yes, Fairy Godmother," they apologized in unison. "We're sorry."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." After Fairy Godmother was safely down the hall, all three girls burst into laughter and continued their fun.


	6. How To Avoid A Boy

"Ok, so Evie?" Lonnie asked. She was helping Evie rehearse her lines for her audition, in the cafeteria. Between bites of scrambled eggs and bacon, she read the words of Shakespeare. "You're really going to try out for Juliet?"

"Of course," Evie replied indignantly."I'm tired of people thinking I can't act!"

Lonnie chuckled. "It's not that, silly! You've got enough charisma for the entire drama department."

Evie smiled. "Thanks."

"I was just asking because Ben is trying out for Romeo, and if you guys get the parts, it might be awkward." Lonnie said. "You know, with him being your best friend's boyfriend."

"Ooh," Evie sighed. "I didn't think of that. I guess I have to talk to Mal. If she doesn't feel comfortable with it then I'll audition for another part."

"That's really sweet of you," Lonnie said.

Their quiet breakfast was interrupted when Chad sat down between them with a tray full of food. "Sorry ladies, but I gotta sit next to my girl."

Lonnie blushed. Evie rolled her eyes. "You know tourney season is over, right? You don't have to eat like a pig."

Chad frowned. "What do you mean? I always eat like this." He stared digging in to his food and literally inhaled his food. Lonnie chuckled while Evie looked disgusted.

"I'm not so hungry anymore," Evie said, getting up from the table with her tray and script. "I'm gonna go talk to Mal. See you later Lonnie."

"Bye."

"So Lonnie," Chad said, turning to his girlfriend after ever had left. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner tonight and meet my parents."

"Y-your parents?" Lonnie asked, nervously. "Don't you think it's a little early in our relationship for me to meet your parents?"

"Oh, come on. You've met them before," Chad reasoned. "The only difference now is that instead of being introduced as my friend Lonnie, you'll be my girlfriend Lonnie."

Lonnie sighed. "Chad, I don't think you understand the big difference between those two words. A girlfriend is a stronger word that usually implies commitment of some sort."

"Aww. They're not that bad. They won't bite. They're not Ben's parents." Lonnie laughed.

Ben, walking by with Jay and Carlos was not as amused. "I heard that!" He said passing by and sitting at another table.

Chad laughed. "Sorry buddy!" Lonnie was now giggling hysterically. "But I promise my parents will be thrilled to meet you. So don't worry, okay?"

"Okay."

"Great, now let's eat because I'm starving!"

"You're always starving."

"That's why I'm always eating." Chad smirked and winked at his girlfriend. Lonnie burst into another fit of giggles.

"Ok, tell me again why Audrey hates you,"a confused Ben asked. Jay had just finished telling him what happened the night prior and why Audrey was nowhere to be seen.

Jay huffed. He was getting tired of people asking him if he was alright or if he and Audrey had some sort of rivalry. People were even asking if they were dating. Of course his answers were yes, no, and HECK NO!

"It couldn't be any clearer," Carlos commented, not even looking up from the calculus book in his hands. "It all started with the dance. A rumor spread, Audrey got upset and blamed Jay, Jay defended himself, words were said, feelings were hurt, and Audrey now hates Jay's guts."

"Huh," Ben said, finally understanding. "Do you hate Audrey back?"

When Jay stayed silent, Carlos spoke up. "Obviously he's not. He's in lo-" Jay covered Carlos's mouth before he could finish his sentence.

"Don't you dare finish that thought!" Jay threatened.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Crystal greeted with Mal and Doug in tow. Jay released Carlos, with a threatening glare. Carlos gulped but remained silent. "How's everyone doing?"

"Great," Carlos and Ben said. Jay just groaned.

"I see someone is still a grumpy pants from last night. But not to worry, no one can stay mad eating Mal's morning muffins." Crystal said holding a pan of fresh baked blueberry muffins.

"Now how can I stay mad at that?" Jay chuckled.

"Glad to see you're in better spirits," Mal said. "Look I know what happened is harsh, but as much as you would rather avoid it, you and Audrey need to talk and work out your issues."

"Ha," Jay said between bites of muffin. "As if that's gonna happen."

"It wouldn't hurt to try," Doug said. "Obviously talking between you two has had some unwanted results, but if you two actually talked, without getting upset or losing your temper, you may come to an agreement."

"Thank you Mr. Therapist," Jay said sarcastically. "But I don't think so. And could you guys please stay out of my business, or else I'm going to end up having to look for better friends." He got up abruptly and dumped his entire tray into the garbage, storming out of the cafeteria.

"Well, that went well," Ben said.

Mal put her head in her hands. "What are we gonna do? This can't continue like this. Jay's one of my best friends and Audrey is one of yours. If we don't fix this, our friendships won't ever be the same again."

Ben rubbed her shoulders to calm her down. "We'll figure something out. I promise." He kissed the top of her head and they continued eating their breakfast.

"Audrey, why do I have to be your lookout?" An exasperated Jane asked. "I'm hungry. Why can't we just go into the cafeteria?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. Currently, the two were wedged behind a post in front of the cafeteria doors. "Because I don't want to just go in and risk the chance of running into Jay."

"You can't avoid him forever," Jane commented.

"I'm not avoiding him!"

"Yes you are."

"Okay, fine so I am! So what?"

"You can't avoid him forever," Jane said.

"Yes I can!"

"Audrey,-"

"Just hurry up and look to see if he's inside. I don't want to see him. And I'm hungry, too," Audrey pouted.

"Well,no need to worry. Jay just stormed out of the cafeteria." Jane said.

"What?" Audrey moved so she could see better, and sure enough Jay was halfway down the hall, obviously upset about something. Not that she cared. When the coast was clear, they moved out from behind their hiding spot. "Okay, now let's go get breakfast!"

Audrey fixed her dress and makeup and skipped into the cafeteria as if she didn't just hide for 20 minutes trying to avoid a boy she hated at the moment. Jane rolled her eyes, at her friend's paranoia.

"This is gonna be a long day," Jane commented, following behind.


	7. Duets

Seriously Audrey?" An exasperated Jane said. "I can't be your eyes anymore. I only have one class with you. Now let go of me before I'm late to physics!" She struggled against Audrey's grip but the older girl's grip was strong.

"Ugh! Fine." Audrey said. She let go of Jane who happily ran to her class before the bell rang. Audrey peered inside and saw Jay sitting on his desk talking with Ben and Crystal. She waited outside the door until right before the bell rung and walked hurriedly to her seat, avoiding questioning glances from her friends. This way she was sure that she would not have to talk or interact in any way with him.

"Good morning class," Mr. Higgins, their Home Ec teacher said. "Now I know you're all a little antsy because we are in the final weeks of school and you're all just waiting for school to end. But let me be the first to remind you that school is NOT over! I will not tolerate end of year shenanigans, understand?" The entire class nodded their heads, too afraid to disagree.

Mr. Higgins smiled. "Good. Now with two weeks of school left I have decided to not give you all a final exam." The class erupted into cheers and laughter and soon the class was full of the Hun of teenagers talking. The teacher walked his ruler on his desk, cutting all conversations off. "Silence! Instead I'll be assigning a partner project that will be 50% of your grade."

He was met with a unanimous groan form the students. "Fine. Be like that. But now I'm going to assign you your partners." The students started protesting again, but Mr. Higgins stayed defiant.

"Mr. H," Caleb, a noble's son,approached their teacher. He wrapped his arms around Mr. Higgins. "Can I call you Mr. H?"

"No." Caleb removed his hands.

"Ok. Do we really need partners?" Caleb asked cautiously.

"Mr. Aldon, please sit down."

"Ok."

"So I will post your partners for the the project on the board at the end of class. Now take out your books and read chapter 9. We have a mini quiz next class." Mr. Higgins said.

Crystal raised her hand. "Mr. Higgins, what even is the project?"

"Ah, well Miss White, since we have an equal number of boys and girls, you'll be paired into boy-girl pairings and you'll be taking care of a robotic baby for two weeks. To test your basic fundamentals that we've learned all year."

The class remained silent for the most part the entire class, but everyone was thinking about the project. It's not everyday that you're told that you have to raise a child with your classmate. That could cause potential awkwardness, but Audrey was no idiot. She new this project was a way to discourage the teen from getting pregnant. And use protection. Or avoid that all together. She did, but not all Auradon Prep were that good.

At the end of class she sighed and was the first to read the list and see who she'd have to be paired up with. But fate is cruel and likes playing cruel, cruel jokes on her. "I'm paired with Jay?!" She exclaimed.

"What!?" Jay said from his desk. He got up and pushed his way through the throng of students to read the list himself. "Aw come on!"

Ben had been paired with Crystal and he thought it was his duty to intervene. "Mr. Higgins, do you think it's possible Jay and I could change partners?"

"No, King Ben," Mr. Higgins replied. "You may be a king but in this class, I have total jurisdiction. My decision is final, so you will all have to deal with each other. The robotic baby records all the details of how you take care of it and has specific sensors and timers which make it react like a real baby, so if you drop it I will know." He sent Jay a look and Jay frowned. He wasn't that irresponsible that he would drop a baby, even if it was robotic.

Audrey groaned. Just her luck that the guy she was trying to avoid would end up being her partner for a project. The teens were then each handed a baby doll. It had everything built in, but looked like a standard doll. Ben and Crystal were given a boy while Audrey and Jay were given a girl.

"Well I don't know how Mal will feel about this," Ben nervously chuckled.

Crystal laughed. "Why don't we go find her and explain everything. I think we should get a divorce. Because you're obviously in love with someone else." Ben blushed and Crystal giggled as they left the class looking for Mal.

Audrey was holding he robotic baby in a little pink blanket. Jay was awkwardly standing next to her staring at her. "Okay," Audrey said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We may not be on the best terms right now, but we're going to put aside our problems for this baby. Okay?"

Jay just nodded. Having very similar schedules, they left the class and starting walking to their free period. They just had to check in and then could roam the school to their wish. Then lunch and Chemistry. Jay and Audrey and most of their classes together except Audrey had art and cheer training while Jay had wood shop and weight training. Ben, Crystal and Chad also had most of their classes with them. Jane, Doug, Audrey, Evie, Carlos and Lonnie all had more advanced. Chad was kicked out after it was discovered he cheated to get in them. Mal was an outlier because her periods were different due to her many art classes Ben had convinced her to take.

After checking in, Audrey and Jay decided to walk into the commons and saw some other students studying and chatting.

"What do you want to name her?" Audrey asked.

Jay frowned. "What? Do we have to name it? That's a little weird,don't you think?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "First of all, the baby is not an it, it's a girl. So from now, refer to the baby as her, not an it or else that'll be the last word you ever say."

"Ok. Wow," Jay sighed. "You're pretty into this project. You know it's not a real baby."

Audrey flicked is forehead and Jay flinched. "I know that! But Mr. Higgins said we have to tear it like a real baby. Besides he gave us a 'birth certificate' for the baby."

"Are you serious?" Jay laughed.

Audrey rolled her eyes again. "Now what would you like to name your daughter?"

Jay frowned at that comment. The baby was a creamy caramel color and had light brown eyes. If he really tried he could actually see the thing as his and Audrey's actual child. And that was a disturbing thought. Almost

"Please don't refer to her as that. Only use the words baby or her. Daughter sound really uncomfortable." He said. Audrey nodded and precede to hand him the baby while she looked for the birth certificate in her bag.

Jay had no idea how to even hold a baby, so this was very awkward for him. He just tried to emulate how Audrey held her. When Audrey didn't complain, he knew he was finally doing it right. "So baby names?" Jay said. He thought for a while but couldn't come up with anything.

"Kennedy?" Audrey offered.

"Yeah, no. That's an awful name!"

"Like you have anything better!"

"I do!" Jay defended. "Daisy."

"No. Alice?"

"No."

"Samantha?"

"No."

"Tiara?"

"Really?"

"Ok I got nothing," Audrey admits defeated.

"How about Lily?" Jay says. "It means purity and beauty."

"How do you know that?" Audrey asked in awe.

"I don't know. Carlos reads random stuff and I picked up some meanings of names." Jay replied. "Like my name is a type of bird." He started flapping his arms like a bird, failing because he was still holding the baby.

Audrey laughed. "I wonder what my name means."

Jay blushed. "Actually, I know what it means."

"You do?"

"Yeah. It means noble strength."

"Wow," Audrey said. "I would have never guessed."

"Yeah." Jay said. They Jay just stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Their conversation had become awkward all of a sudden so they both looked away as Audrey tried to fill in the silly birth certificate and Jay held the robotic baby. They stayed silent, not saying a word to each other, but stole glances at one another when the other wasn't looking.

"Hey Mal!" Ben greeted Mal cheerfully, she was getting her books from her locker. He held his baby in his hands. "Would you like to meet my son, BJ?"

Mal's eyes widened in surprise and horror, but soon narrows as she glared a brushing hole in her boyfriend's head. "What?!" She dropped her books on the floor.

Crystal came up behind Ben. "I see you've met our baby, BJ. Isn't he cute?" Ben handed her the blanket and Mal looked like she was about to explode. She lunged at Crystal, who moved behind Ben as he caught her before she could unleash her claws.

"It's not what you think!" Ben said as he tried calming Mal down. She finally stopped resisting and he put her down.

No sooner had her feet hit the floor that she started hitting his arm. "You-better-have-a-good-explanation-for-this!" She yelled between hits.

Ben took the baby back form Crystal and shows it to Mal. "It's not a real baby! It's a robotic baby we're taking care of for our Home Ec class."

Realization dawned on Mal's face. "Oh."

Crystal laughed. "It's okay. We've already agreed that we're 'divorced'. Because Ben is obviously in love with you."

Mal smirked. "So that would make me like the stepmother?"

Ben laughed. "Yeah, but the non-wicked kind."

The three teens laughed when Evie bounded over. "Mal I've been looking for you all morning!"

"Hey E," Mal greeted. "What's up?"

"So um, you know how I wanted to audition for the end of the year play?" Evie asked.

"Oh hey! I'm auditioning,too!" Ben said happily.

Evie smiled awkwardly. "Yeah about that. So I really wanted to be Juliet but Lonnie told me that Ben always gets the lead. And I didn't know how you would feel about that. If you want I'll audition for a different part."

Mal laughed. "That's so sweet of you. Of course you can audition for Juliet. It won't mean anything. As long as it's acting,right?"

Evie smiled. "Yeah, of course."


	8. Girls and Guys

Lonnie was pacing back and forth, her freshly curled hair bouncing. Mal looked up from her drawing to see her friend start to hyperventilate. Evie was just rolling her eyes.

"Seriously Lonnie, I need to finish your hair," Evie said. Just then a knock was heard at the door.

Lonnie stopped dead in her tracks and her hands flew up to her face. "Oh no! Chad is early! I'm not ready."

"Don't worry,"Audrey said walking in with Jane and Crystal in tow. "It's just us. I know you said this was serious Evie, but I had no idea it was this bad." She giggled and Lonnie sat in her chair.

"I don't even know why I'm freaking out so much," Lonnie admitted. "I've met his parents before."

"Maybe it's because Chad your first boyfriend."Jane reasoned.

Lonnie shrugged. "Maybe, but it's more than that. I have met his parents before, but as his friend. Back when his parents didn't have to worry about me being a possible future daughter in law. Now they'll be judging me like 'look at that Chinese girl. She's not good enough for our son.' I don't want that to happen." She closed her eyes and held back her tears.

"Aww honey," Evie comforted. She wiped away her tears. "Don't cry. Your make up will smudge." Lonnie giggled.

"Yeah, and Cinderella and Prince Charming will love you," Jane said.

"You're beautiful and have a lot to offer," Evie said taking her hands. "Now stay still so that I can finish doing your hair. Audrey, help me with her makeup."

"Ok,"

For the next half hour they worked on Lonnie while the rest of the girls watched and talked. They had fun having a girls' night on a Wednesday. Soon enough, Lonnie's hair was perfectly curled and her makeup was natural and beautiful. Evie and Audrey stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"You look absolutely stunning!" Jane said in awe.

"Girl, if his parents don't love you in all your awesomeness, then they're blind," Crystal added.

Lonnie giggled and blushed. Then there was a knock at the door. Evie got up to answer it. "I wonder who that could be?"

She opened the door to see Chad holding a bouquet of flowers. "Aww I'm flattered, but really Chad, you need to stop. I have a boyfriend."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Nice see you too Evie. I'm here for Lonnie."

"Of course."

"Hey," Lonnie said appearing at the door. Evie smiled and closed the door behind her. But that didn't stop Evei, Crystal and Audrey from pressing their ears up against the door. Mal snorted from her bed and Jane giggled silently watching her friends.

Chad and Lonnie were standing in the hall, almost awkwardly.

"You nervous?" Chad asked, giving her the flowers and taking her hand.

"Extremely," Lonnie frowned. "What if I mess up or say something stupid or your mom hates any girl you go with and-"

"Lonnie, breathe," Chad said, cutting of her little monologue. He wrapped his arms around her. "My parents will love you because I do."

Lonnie blushed and Chad kissed the top of her head. She laughed and heard a muffled awe from behind the door. "Good night girls."

Three muffled "good nights" came from behind the door and Chad and Lonnie laughed, leaving for Cinderella's castle.

"Ugh!" Jay screamed. He was currently trying to have his baby stop crying. "Why are we in charge of these screaming brats tonight in the first place? Isn't that the mother's job?"

Carlos gave him a look and Ben laughed. "Because the girls are helping Lonnie get ready to have dinner with Chads parents. "

"Yeah she was really nervous and he's excited," Doug said.

"Man he's so whipped," Jay laughed. "And so are you guys!" He motioned over to Ben and Doug.

"Dude, you're just jealous because they have girlfriends while the girl you like hates your guts," Carlos shot back.

"Can you guys stop? I DON'T like Audrey okay!" Jay said exasperated.

"He never said who," Ben pointed out.

The guys burst out laughing but Jay was not so amused. Between their laughter and his robot baby's crying he couldn't take it anymore. "That's it! I'm done! Chad already left so I'm taking this kid back to his mother!" He was about to leave when Carlos got in his way.

"Jay relax," Carlos said. "Here, hand me the baby." Jay chucked the baby like a football. Carlos caught right before it hit the floor.

"Oops," Jay said.

"Seriously Jay," Ben said. "Be more careful. The baby records all activity and you don't want to get a bad grade, do you?"

"Eh," Jay said. " I could care less."

"More importantly," Doug said. "You don't want to tick off Audrey. You're already on thin ice as is."

"True."

"How did you and Audrey even get stuck working together in the first place?" Carlos asked.

"Because Mr. Higgins is an a**hole!" Jay said.

"Watch it Jay," Ben reprimanded. "Remember you're not on the Isle anymore."

"Whatever."

"I guess it's fate,". Doug teased.

"Doug, what are you taking about ?" Jay asked.

"Let's just say it's no coincidence that you got paired up with Audrey," Doug smirked. Ben chuckled and Carlos bit back a laugh.

But Jay was utterly confused. "What do you m-?" There was a knock on the door.

"Ooh that must be our pizza!" Doug interrupted. He got up and paid for the pizza, sitting by back down and playing with Carlos Apocalypse Part 5. Their guy night continued like always, but Jay was still confused about what Doug had said.


	9. Disaster Dinner Date

"So, how are things with you and Jay?"Mal asked Audrey.

Audrey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well I thought you two weren't exactly on speaking terms right now." Mal clarified.

Audrey sighed. She got up off the floor and started pacing. "I mean, yeah I guess. But then we got paired up for that stupid project and we decided that for the sake of our grades, we'd put our issues aside and try to act civil towards each other."

"Wait," Jane said. "I'm still not completely sure as to why you two were fighting in the first place."

"Somebody spread rumors that we were dating after prom. I maybe sorta kinda blamed him for it and words were said." Audrey explained.

"But why were you so upset about the rumors?" Evie asked. "They're just rumors. As long as you know what's true, it doesn't matter what others think."

"I guess.." Audrey said looking at the ground. She got a water bottle and sat back down on the floor. She was avoiding the other girls' gazes.

"Audrey, is there another reason you didn't want those rumors hanging around?" Crystal asked.

"Wait, do you like Jay?" Mal asked.

"What? No!" Audrey said defensively. "It's just that Florian hasn't talked to me since prom. It's been almost two weeks and I think he thinks that me and Jay are a thing."

"Seriously?" Mal asked. She laughed. "Have you even talked to him?"

"No," Audrey said sheepishly. "I've been preoccupied with arguments with Jay and my schoolwork."

"You mean your robot baby?" Jane asked.

"Exactly."

"So basically you spend almost all your time with Jay!" Evie smirked.

"Yeah-wait! No!" Audrey said. "Ugh. That's not what I meant!"

The other girls giggled. Audrey huffed and glared. She turned over in her sleeping bag. "I'm going to sleep!"

"Aww. Come on, Audrey," Crystal whined. "We don't have to take care of our babies so we can have some fun!"

"Good night!" Audrey said. She drifted off into a fitful sleep, with dreams that oddly enough, were about Jay.

"So it's been like five days since you guys had your major blowout and you two are acting civil towards each other. How that working out for you?" Doug asked Jay.

Jay sighed. "Not as bad as you'd think. Obviously we're not bringing it up because words were said, but we're not exactly friends."

"I mean, you're raising a child with her," Carlos smirked.

"Shut up!" Jay yelled throwing a pillow at him. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Good night."

The next day the girls awoke refreshed and ready for a shopping day, except Mal. "Guys. There's no way I'm going shopping on a Friday!"

"I'm not comfortable with that either," Jane admitted. "I can never find clothes that fit right. That's why my mother makes all my clothes."

"Well I have a royal tailor," Audrey said. "But even I like to go shopping."

"And honestly Jane you have a great figure," Evie complimented. "And have you lost weight?"

"Really?" Jane said, her face lighting up. "You think I'm skinnier?"

"Yeah," Mal said suspicion coating her voice. "Have you been working out or something?"

"A bit, yes," Jane said.

"Well let's go pick up Lonnie," Crystal suggested. "I'm dying to know what happened last night with Chad's parents."

"Well then let's get ready!"Evie said while Mal groaned.

Chad walked into Jay and Carlos's room when he saw it was unlocked. He saw his bros asleep covered in snacks. Or at least Jay and Ben were. Their babies were safely tucked under their arms and Chad couldn't help but take a pic. He didn't post it because he thought it would be better blackmail material. He saw one of Carlos's heavy trigonometry textbooks laying in his bed and ever so gently picked it up and dropped it in the floor. The four out her guys woke up with a start. And the babies started crying.

"Dude, seriously?"Ben said, trying to calm down his screeching robot.

"I'm gonna kill you," Jay said, feeding his robot baby a fake bottle. Once they got their robots under control they turned their attention back to their very lucky to be alive friend.

"So is there a reason why you woke us up at 9:00 a.m.?" Jay asked. "Or do you have a death wish?"

Chad laughed. "Um, actually I need some advice."

"On what?" Ben asked.

Chad cleared his throat and scratched the back of his. "Let's just say that the dinner last night did not go as well as expected."

"So I texted Lonnie we were gonna pick her up, and she just texted 'K'. Should we be worried?" Audrey asked.

"I'm pretty sure she's fine," Mal said.

"Only one way to find out," Evie said. As she was about to knock on Lonnie's door, the door opened and a teary eyed Lonnie appeared. She stepped aside to let her friends in

"Lonnie are you okay?" Jane asked.

"No," Lonnie cried. "Last night was a disaster! "

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry it took a little while to update, but the story was erased when I forgot to save so this chapter is shorter than I wanted. But I promise that the next chapter will be longer and posted sooner.**


	10. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

"Aww Honey," Evie comforted. She wrapped her arms around Lonnie as she sobbed into her chest. Soon there were no more tears and Lonnie was just breathing heavy.

"What happened!" Jane asked, concerned for her friend.

"Well.." Lonnie said. "It's a long story."

"We got time," Mal said.

*Flashback*

"This is so exciting!" Chad hollered, holding Lonnie's hand. They were riding Prince Charming's carriage to Cinderella's castle. "My parents already love you! And the staff prepared an amazing dinner just for you."

"I don't know, Chad," Lonnie said. She was still nervous about the evening that hadn't even begun. "I have a bad feeling about tonight. And my mother always says you should trust your gut."

"Babe, don't worry. Everything will be fine." Chad said. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, reassuring her. She smiled and tried to settle the butterflies in her stomach, to no avail.

The carriage came to a stop and the young couple stepped out. They were met with the beautiful sight that was Cinderella's castle. It was technically a wedding gift from Chad's grandfather to the couple, but Prince Charming and named it after the love of his life. The castle was everything it's made out to be and Lonnie's breath was taken away.

Two guards opened the door into the grand hall and Lonnie visibly paled. There was no reason to be nervous. Chad already met her parents as her boyfriend. In fact her dad aplenty owed her mom $20. She was shocked to find out that her parents bet on her love life, but Mulan had a way of knowing things before they happened. They made their way to dining hall where Cinderella and Prince Charming had just been seated.

"Mom, Dad," Chad cleared his throat. "You remember Lonnie."

Prince Charming rises from his chair and hugged his son and his girlfriend. "Of course! Of course! I always knew you two would find each other!"

Lonnie blushed. Cinderella slowly got up from her seat. She stared at Lonnie long and hard before she said a word. "So," she finally said. "This is your girlfriend." Lonnie winced. She could hear the ice and venom in every word.

Chad forced a smile. "Yes mother. Lonnie is my girlfriend. Who would've thought?"

"Certainly not me," Cinderella chided.

Sensing the tension in the room, Prince Charming clapped his hands together. "Well, why don't we eat?"

"That'd be great dad!" Chad agreed. He led Lonnie to her seat, that conveniently was directly in front of his mother's chair.

The room was silent for a moment, with only the sound of the staff bringing them their first course, pumpkin soup.

"An odd choice if you ask me," Cinderella quipped. "I thought we were to have cream of chicken."

"Well, mother, Lonnie is a vegetarian." Chad explained.

"Hmm," Cinderella replied, sipping her tea.

"So how's tourney?" Prince Charming asked, changing the subject.

"Great!" Chad said. "We won the championships for the first time ever thanks to Jay. That's a great way to end the season."

"That's great sweetheart!" Cinderella gushed. "One day you'll make a great professional tourney player!"

"Mother," Chad blushed. "I don't know if I want to go pro yet."

"Well you should," Cinderella said. She turned her attention back to Lonnie. "So Lonnie do you play a sport or are you a cheerleader?"

"Um," Lonnie said awkwardly. "I'm definitely not a cheerleader. But I do love to dance!"

"Like ballet?"

"Oh, um, no. More like street dance."

"I see," Cinderella said. She carefully ate her soup, eying Lonnie the entire time. The rest of the meal was awkward with the only conversation between Chad and his father about sports. But dinner wasn't over yet. Dessert had not been served.

"Well we really should be leaving," Chad spoke up.

"Nonsense darling," Cinderella said. "You still haven't had dessert. It's your favorite."

"If love to mother but I think Lonnie would like to go home now."

Lonnie blushed under Cinderella gaze. "I-I guess dessert could be nice."

"Very well," Prince Charming said, as the servers brought chocolate soufflé and vanilla be a ice cream.

Lonnie carefully took a bite of her dessert, while Chad started digging in. She was about a third of the way done when Cinderella spoke up.

"Careful darling," Cinderella smirked. "We wouldn't want you to lose your figure."

Lonnie immediately dropped her spoons pushed away the remains of her dessert.

"Mother," Chad began.

"Oh come on Chad!" Cinderella exclaimed. "We wouldn't want your beautiful housewife to get fat now would we? She already not good enough for you."

"Mother!"

"Oh come now! So you really think you can continue your bloodline with this girl as your wife?" Cinderella asked.

"Actually ma'am," Lonnie said. "We haven't even considered marriage, seeing as we are both quite young. Besides I never planned on being a housewife."

"What!" Cinderella said. "And why not?"

"Because I've always wanted to open up my own dance studio for kids," Lonnie explained.

"Ha ha ha," Cinderella laughed. "That's a good one."

"She's not joking mother," Chad said through gritted teeth.

"Oh," Cinderella said. "Well I can't control you. But just now this, you can marry this girl all you want, but you will NOT have my blessing!" She got up and stormed out of the dining hall.

"I'm so sorry," Prince Charming said befit chasing after his wife.

Lonnie stood in shock at what just happened. Chad couldn't believe his mother. "Forget about what she said. She's just upset that I have a girlfriend. Let's go."

Chad led Lonnie to the awaiting carriage and they rode in silence back to Auradon Prep. When they arrived Chad realized Lonnie was crying.

"It's okay," Chad said." Come on. I'll walk you to your dorm." He tried to grab Lonnie's hand but she pulled away.

"Don't!" She yelled.

"But Lonnie-"

"No! I will not be the reason you and your mother drift apart."

"Lonnie you're not."

"Yes I am! Tonight was just a dinner. And we may have not talked about the future but there could be a possibility that we spend the rest of our lives together, but I can't do it if it'll be like tonight." Lonnie yelled.

"Lonnie please-"

"No it's not fair to you or your family. It's obvious that your mom is right and I'm not good enough for you. It'd be better if I got out of your life," Lonnie started crying.

Chad didn't realize that he was until he felt hot tears on his cheek. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Lonnie sighed. "That we should break up."

"What? No!"

"I don't want to, but it's for the best."

"Lonnie-"

"Goodbye," Lonnie said. She kissed his cheek and when he tried grabbing her hand, she put it in his cheek. "I love you."

She turned on her heel and headed to her dorm, using the little strength she had left to contain herself from breaking down right then and there.

Chad watched her retreating figure until she was gone. He groaned and kicked the ground, mad at himself for what happened tonight, mad at his mother for how she behaved and mad at the irks for no good reason. But he was definitely not mad at Lonnie. He couldn't be. Even if he tried.

*End flashback.*

"She broke up with you?" Ben said incredulously.

"Yeah," Chad sighed. The other guys were just stating at him with sympathy.

"What you need is to get your mind off of Lonnie." Jay said. "You need a guys day off. We'll drop off our robots with their mothers and go to the field to play some tourney. How does that sound?"

"I guess it beats moping around my room all day," Chad replied.

"That's the spirit!" Jay laughed.

"Did I do the right thing, guys?" Lonnie asked between sobs.

"Of course honey," Evie said, trying to comfort her.

"What?" Mal said. "No! You and Chad are meant to be. You can't just leave it at that."

"As much as I hat agreeing with Mal, she's right," Audrey said. "You two have been through so much already. You can't just let all of that go."

"Well," Crystal spoke up. "I can see where she's coming from."

"Yeah," Jane agreed. "I say give it time. Let things cool down a bit before trying again. You know what they say,'if you love something let it be free, if it comes back, it's meant to be'."

"Thanks guys," Lonnie smiled. "Well I believe we had a shopping day!"

"Ugh," Mal groaned. "Don't remind me!"

"Please, Mal," Lonnie pouted. "For me."

"Fine," Mal said. "Since you just recently broke up, I'll allow it!"

"Thanks so much," Lonnie giggled. They heads towards the awaiting limo. Jane was lagging behind and Evie went up to her.

"That was some great advice you gave Lonnie in there," Evie complimented.

Jane blushed. "Thanks, but I was just winging it there." She giggled and caught up two Mal. Evie stood for a moment with a funny look on her face.

"That girl is just full of surprises."


	11. Jealousy

Audrey sighed as she and Crystal stepped into their room. Her feet were sore from her shoes. Wearing heels on a shopping day was not a good idea but they were too cute to pass up. She threw her shopping bags on her bed and took off her shoes. Crystal did the same and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Aubrey was massaging her feet when she heard a knock on the door. She sighed as she stood up and winced. She cursed under her breath as she made her way to the door. Opening it, she found an exasperated Jay holding two baby robots. Audrey laughed at Jay's appearance. His hair was disheveled and he was covered in robot food and puke.

"Hey Jay," Audrey chuckled. "Um can I help you?"

Jay scowled. "Yeah. Here's Lily." He handed her their baby and stepped into her room. "Uh where's Crystal? I got her kid too."

"She's in the bathroom." Audrey answered. "I take it being single dads took a toll on Ben and you."

"No, just me."

"What?"

Jay chuckled. "He had kingly duties so he ditched me with two robotic brats. All. Day. And unfortunately for me Chad is sad, Doug and Carlos had some smart thing and the mothers were shopping."

Audrey scoffed. "Sorry but I was helping a friend. "

"Yeah, whatever."

"Sup, Jay," Crystal greeted as she walked out of the bathroom. She was in her pjs and went to her bed. Audrey glared as Jay looked Crystal up and down.

"Hey C," Jay smirked. "Nice legs."

Crystal blushed. "Th-thanks. Is that my baby?" She asked changing the subject.

"Uh yeah," Jay said. He handed Lily to a fuming Audrey and made his way over to Crystal. He handed her the baby, his hand lingering slightly on hers. Crystal only reddened more.

"Well we're gonna have. A guys night with Chad to get his mind off the break up," Jay said. "But I'll see you around." He winked at Crystal and left the girls' room.

Crystal blushed and rocked her baby to sleep and placed it into the makeshift crib she made. Audrey did the same. Audrey didn't know why she felt all of sudden like punching her best friend in the face, but she did.

"Don't fall for it," she suddenly said. Crystal looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Jay," Audrey hissed. "He's laying it on pretty thick. But don't fall for his charm."

"He was flirting with me?" Crystal smiled.

"Duh," Audrey rolled her eyes. "You couldn't tell?"

"I can't believe it." Crystal said. "Jay likes me?"

"Probably," Audrey. "But he's a player and a flirt. So stay away from him, unless you want to get your heart broken."

"Oh," Crystal said. "You're right. I won't fall for it. I promise." She smiled and rolled over in her bed to go to sleep.

Audrey felt relieved, but she didn't understand why. Something was off with her and she didn't know what.


	12. A Turn Of Events

"I can't believe we won regionals!" Doug said ecstatically. He grabbed another slice of pizza and high fived Carlos.

Doug, Carlos, Lonnie, Evie , and Jane were celebrating their decathlon victory with pizza at Tiana's Place. It had turned into a major franchise all over the world, with Cajun style everything. Her Cajun pizzeria was to die for.

"You know, we have Carlos to thank," Lonnie said. Carlos blushed.

"Aww. That's sweet. But I can't take all the credit. You guys made it to regionals ok on your own." Carlos said.

"Yeah. Barely," Evie laughed. "You're our secret weapon."

"Yeah," Doug agreed. "Who would've guessed we would have a sudden death round with the topic being robotics? If it wasn't for you, we would've never won."

A round of cheers followed. Carlos blushed harder and focused on his pizza. Tiana sure did make a mean pizza. But soon his attention turned to Jane who had barely eaten or talked all night. He noticed she was a little off at the decathlon, too. She even got a question wrong. And she never gets anything wrong. He wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Hey, Jane, everything okay?" Evie asked.

Jane seemed to be really out of it because she snapped her head up when Evie spoke to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess. Mom's had me do a lot of paperwork for her. And homework for Mr. Teranstein is killer."

"Tell me about it," Carlos chuckled. "But you're not hungry either? You barely nibbled your pizza."

"I'm not hungry. I'll grab a bite at home. Pizza is just a little too greasy for me," Jane said.

"Aww, come on Jane. Today can be our cheat day," Lonnie giggled.

"No thank you," Jane declined politely. "You guys enjoy yourself. I have to get going. I have a curfew."

"But it's Saturday!" Doug said.

"Still," Jane smiled. "You know how my mom is about curfews." That earned a laugh from the group. She quietly slipped out of the restaurant with Carlos watching her every move. It might sound crazy, but he thought she looked very thin and small.

"So..Carlos," Doug smirked. "When are you gonna ask Jane out?"

Carlos was snapped out of his reverie. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?!"

"Yeah," Lonnie agreed. "When you gonna stop being a pansy and ask her out, like a real man."

"I'm a man!"

"Sure," Evie smirked.

"I am!"

"Then ask Jane out," Evie said matter of factly.

"No!"

"Why not?" Doug asked.

"Because I don't like her like that," Carlos said defensively.

"Sure you don't," Lonnie smirked.

The three older teens burst into laughter while a pouting Carlos ate his pizza in silence. He eventually joined in on their laughter. The teens just enjoyed the rest of their evening, even Carlos, who was still worrying about Jane.

"They took me shopping!" Mal complained on the phone with her boyfriend. Ben laughed on the other line. "It's not funny!"

"Why did you go shopping anyway?" Ben laughed.

"Because, Lonnie went through a break up and they girls decided it would be fun to go shopping to take her mind off it."

"Well,was it?"

"No! It was far from fun! And then Jane, Lonnie, and Evie left to go to their decathlon, leaving me alone with Audrey and Crystal!"

Ben chuckled. "Aw come on. They can't be that bad."

Mal huffed. "Not that bad? Not that bad! They're cheerleaders for Petes sake, Ben! I tried on 37 pairs of shoes! And the dresses! Oh the dresses!" Mal shuddered at the memory:

Ben lost it and burst into laughter. Mal couldn't see him, but could tell he was crying from laughing so hard.

"It was horrible, Ben! I don't think my feet can endure that torture again. We walked the entire mall. Twelve times! They revisited like a million stores, and they came back with four items. Four!" Mal vented.

"Well, now you know to never go shopping with Audrey. I learned that the hard way." Ben said.

"What?" Mal said through clenched teeth. "And you didn't warn me she was shopping cyborg?!"

"No?" Ben said, scared of her reaction.

"You now what?" Mal hissed into the phone. "You're really lucky you're cute." She hung up on him. In his room Ben was in fits of laughter at his girlfriend's behavior. She really was adorable.

Mal pouted,but realizing no one could see her, she stopped. She then began running her very sore feet. She was grumbling under her breath when Evie walked through the door.

"Oh, there is my so called best friend!" Mal said sarcastically.

Evie rolled her eyes. "And I thought I was the diva. Besides you know I had the decathlon."

"I know," Mal grumbled. "But shopping would've been more bearable with you there."

"I know sweetie," Evie comforted. She sat down at the foot of Mal's bed. Mal was trying to massage her feet, to no avail. "So what's the damage?"

Mal put her feet on Evie's lap. "I got blisters. And lots of them."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, Audrey probably has it off worse because she was dumb enough to wear four inch heels." Evie laughed.

"That does make me feel better!" Mal joined in. Soon enough, they both started laughing hysterically. "So E, when are auditions for the play?"

"Monday," Evie grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Mal asked, concerned.

"It's just that the drama teacher, Ms. Diana, changed the play at the last second." Evie said. "Instead of doing Romeo and Juliet, it's her original play, Silence and Deception, which if you ask me, is totally not appropriate for high school. But I'm still going to get the lead."

"I bet you are," Mal chuckled. "Well I'm beat. I think I'm going to go to sleep. And probably sleep in tomorrow, because I am exhausted!"

"Night Mal."

"Night E!"

Audrey woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm. She removed her sleep mask and saw that it was five till noon. She jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom, startling her sleeping friend. Crystal hit her head on her headboard with a thud.

"Audrey, have you gone completely mad?" Crystal said, rubbing her head.

"Sorry,"Audrey said, rushing out of the bathroom and trying her best to take her behead and hide her dark circles. "But it's Sunday and I have a very important luncheon today with my family."

"Oh."Crystal said, walking over to calm the crying robot babies.

Audrey paused from her frenzy and put on her sweetest smile. "Crystal, you know how you're my best friend, right?"

Crystal rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Could you watch Lily today? I promise I'll make it up to you!"

"Fine," Crystal sighed. Not like I have any other plans, she thought.

"Thanks!" Audrey said, rushing out the door.

Now Crystal was stuck with two babies. No way she was gonna handle it alone. She picked up her cell and a sticky note that she placed on her vanity and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jay, it's Crystal."


	13. Just A Kiss

"So any particular reason you wanted me to come?" Jay asked as he entered Crystal's room.

"No," she answered. "Just thought it'd be cool to hangout. Besides I need help with this assignment." She handed him his baby and went on to dress hers. Lil Ben was actually really cute. She loved dressing him up in cute little sailor outfits and bow ties. Today she put him in a button up shirt, shorts and boat shoes with of course a bow tie. Evie had sewed them for her. She even had a crown for the baby.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jay rolled his eyes.

"What?!" Crystal said indignantly.

"You're dressing up your baby?"Jay asked. "That's literally the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen."

Crystal frowned. "It is not! Besides Lily's dressed, too."

"Only because Audrey's a psycho."

"It's not crazy to love your children, even if they're fake!" Crystal said.

To this Jay stayed silent. Crystal finished dressing BJ and Lily and they headed to breakfast. Jay kept his head down with his hands in his pockets. Crystal noticed his silence, and stopped in front of him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned. "You've been really quiet."

Jay shrugged avoiding her gaze. "It's fine." He pushed past her to the cafeteria. It was mostly empty because it was late to be getting breakfast. Most kids were enjoying their parents company on Sunday since it was a three day weekend and there was no school Monday.

Jay grabbed a plate and piled high a mountain of food. Crystal tried to not show her disgust and opted for yogurt and fruit to Jay's pile of pancakes, sausage and eggs. They sat down at a table next to the window. Storm students got up to leave, leaving them the only ones eating.

Crystal started "feeding" the robo babies. She added sound effects and airplane motions for fun. "Who wants food? Come catch the airplane!" She said in baby talk. She giggled at her own silliness. Jay rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how many times I'm going to have to tell you that they're not real babies." Jay said. "You look ridiculous."

Crystal frowned. "Well sorry if I actually enjoy this project. I kinda love these robot babies. It's good practice for when I become a mother some day. I wanna show my future child the same love and care my mother gave me."

Jay couldn't take it anymore. He threw his food, plate and all, into the garbage and stormed out of the cafeteria. Crystal was surprised at his sudden mood change. She hurried and threw her trash away and picked up the babies and ran after him. He didn't get very far. He was sitting on a bench in front of the library with his head in his hands. Crystal placed the robots into a stroller she brought for them and put them to "sleep".

She sat next to Jay and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She states softly. "I had no idea."

Jay didn't say a word. He didn't even move. Crystal didn't know what his expression was but she kept talking.

"I'm so sorry, I really am," she apologized again. "I was being so insensitive. Sometimes I forget that you VK's didn't have childhoods like ours. I guess it's because you all changed so much I started seeing you all as regular people like us."

Jay lifted his head and smiled. He had tears falling from his eyes. Crystal was sure he never cried and here he was vulnerable ad breaking down in front of her.

"You don't need to apologize." Jay said. "It's not your fault. I guess just seeing you and Audrey fawn over these babies, even though they're not real, made me feel kinda empty. I never had a mother growing up and my dad was harsh." It felt good talking to her about his past. Jay felt a burden lift from his shoulders.

Crystal grabbed his hand and held it. "I'm sorry we made you feel that."

Jay laughed. "What did I say about apologizing?" Crystal giggled and he blushed. "You know something? I don't ever think I've ever heard my dad say 'I love you' to me or even that's he's proud of me. He was never satisfied, what I did was never good enough. That's why we tried to take the wand. Because maybe then our parents would be proud of us."

Crystal squeezed his hand. "Well if he won't say it, I will. I proud of you. All of you. You guys have shown real character and change and I think that's very admirable."

She stood up and held out her hand. "Now how about we have some fun!"

Jay gave her a quizzical look. "What do you have in mind?"

Crystal giggled. "Come with me and you'll find out."

Jay grabbed her hand. "I better not regret this."

"Oh my gosh! What is this?" Jay said eating his gelato. "I've had what you Auradonians call 'ice cream', but this is something on a whole new level!"

Crystal giggled. They were walking back to her dorm. They spent the day at the park and perusing the many Auradon shops. "It's called gelato. It's like ice cream but better. It comes form the kingdom of Italia, specially made from Italian ingredients that are imported."

"Oh," Jay said. "Is that why it was crazy expensive?" He wasn't used to buying things, having stolen everything his whole life.

Crystal laughed. "Yeah, that's why it was it was crazy expensive."

"You know you didn't have to do this for me," Jay said.

"You know you didn't have to join me," Crystal countered. "But you did."

"You know what? You're probably the first Auradon girl that I've actually spent time with and enjoyed." Jay said

Crystal blushed. "Thanks. But what about Audrey?" She stopped in front of her dorm room door.

"What about Audrey?" Jay questioned. "I mean we're not necessarily friends. We argue all the time, get on each other's nerves, and I'm pretty sure she hates me."

"Really?" Crystal asked. "Are you sure? What has she done?"

"Well she pretty flat out told me she hates me, so.." Jay scratched the back of his neck, a nervous tuck he developed. "You know you have a really nice smile."

Crystal blushed and giggled.

"And your laugh is adorable," Jay complimented.

His face slowly got closer to hers and she noticed she was doing the same. It was like there was an invisible magnet between them, slowly drawing them together.

Crystal's throat hitched and she gulped down her nerves. She'd never been this close to a boy before. Jay licked his lips, also nervous, because if he was being completely honest, this was all new to him, too.

"Th-thanks," Crystal managed to mumble out.

Jay did the last thing he would expect to do.

"Hey Crystal, doyouwanttogooutwithme?" Jay said.

Crystal looked at him confused. "What?"

Jay took a deep breath. "You. Me. Movies. On Saturday. What do you say?"

"Really?" Crystal blushed. "I really like you Jay but-" she was cut off when she found a pair of lips on her own.

Audrey was walking toward the girls dorm after being dropped of by her old chauffeur, Niles. She sure did miss her castle. But she was at Auradon to learn.

"Bye Daddy! Tell Mother I love her!" She hung up her phone. "Well now to tell Crystal all about my day! We really need a chat sesh!"

She walked into her dorm and was walking to her room when she turned the corner and saw Crystal and Jay lip locked. She gasped and hid behind the corner, for them not to see her. She couldn't believe it! Since when were Crystal and Jay a thing? Anger welled up inside Audrey. She felt the wet tears running down her cheeks. Now her expensive mascara was ruined.

"It can't be!" She mumbled. She turned and ran out of the girls dorm. She couldn't explain why, but she knew she was very upset. She didn't know why she was crying. She should be happy for her best friend. She wanted to be, but it hurt her to see Crystal kissing Jay.

Audrey's vision started getting blurry through her tears so she sat on a bench to collect herself and fix her makeup. But the harder she tried to stop crying, the more the tears fell.

"Hey are you alright?" A male voice said.

Audrey looked up to see none other than Florian, with a worried expression.

"Oh, Audrey it's you," he said. He sat down next to her. "Why are you crying?"

Audrey furiously wiped away her tears. "I'm not. It's just allergies."

"Audrey, we both now that's not true," Florian said. "Please tell me what's wrong." He grabbed both her hands in his.

"It's just-" Audrey couldn't tell him the truth. At least not the whole truth. "I visited my parents today in their kingdom and this boy I liked who lives there kinda rejected me."

"What? How could anyone reject you?" Florian said.

Audrey laughed. "He kissed one of my best friends."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Are you still gonna be friends with her."

"Of course," Audrey said. "It's not her fault. Neither one of them knew about my feelings. And they can never know. Besides friends shouldn't fight over boys. I just need to move on."

"Exactly," Florian said, scorching closer. "A guy who can't see how amazing you are doesn't deserve your tears." He wiped away the few remaining tears on her cheek.

Audrey blushed and avoided his gaze. "Thanks."

Florian gently lifted her chin and her brown eyes stared right back at his crystal blue eyes. They closed the gap between them and kissed.

"A truth spell? Awesome!" Mal exclaimed as she read her book. It was rare to see Mal reading but the book on spells she found 'accidentally ' in Fairy Godmother's secret stash in the library, she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She was particularly bored considering she had no idea where her friends were and her kingly boyfriend ditched her for his eighty year old great grandma.

Her stomach gurgled due to its lack of food. She probably shouldn't have skipped lunch. She decided the quickest way to the cafeteria would be through the center courtyard.

She turned right and kept reading her book, avoiding bumping into other students. She finally looked up in front of the girl dorms and saw Florian and Audrey making out on the bench.

Her book fell with a loud thud onto the sidewalk, separating the star crossed lovers. Mal immediately picked it up and his behind a column, praying that they didn't see her.

Florian and Audrey looked all around and saw no one around. They said a quick awkward goodbye and hurried to their respective dorms. Audrey almost did, but paused and thought better of it. She turned on her heel and headed for the library.

Once they were out of sight, Mal came out from her hiding place. She shocked that Audrey was tongue dancing with Florian. Last time she checked, she had the hots for Jay, and vice versa.

"This cannot be good."

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been sick and busy with school. Spring break is next week so I'm hoping to get a lot of rest, relaxation, and writing done.

-{Fangirl}-


	14. A Mother's Love

Mal was in shock at what she had just witnessed. She was freaking out and needed to talk with Ben but he was still at his parents castle doing kingly duties. So she opted for her next best option: Evie. She ran back to her room, anxious to tell Evie everything. She was a meddler by nature and she couldn't help it if she liked formulating plans to get involved in her friend's lives.

She opens the door to find Evie crying softly into her pillow. This wasn't the fist time she had seen Evie cry, but something was off and she could tell that Evie was crying over something very serious.

"Evie?" Mal cautiously said to the crying girl. "Are you ok?"

Evie didn't answer and continues crying. She sniffed and blew her nose. Mal hugged her and let Evie vent for 20 more minutes. By then Evie was reduced to nothing more than heavy sighs.

"You wanna talk now?" Mal asked gently.

"Sure," Evie said, weakly.

Mal frowned. She was worried for her friend. Evie had never cried this hard for anything, not even Doug. This had to be serious.

"Um," Evie began. "So I might have talked to my mom today.."

Mal gulped. "How was it?"

Evie choked back a sob. "Not well."

Flashback:

"Come on Doug!" Evie said excitedly as she pulled her boyfriend to her room. She was so excited and nervous about what she was about to do.

"Evie," Doug panted. "I'm not athletic! Can we stop running!" He said in between breaths.

"Oh, sorry," Evie said, slowing to a stop. "It's just that I'm so exited!"

"For what?"

"You'll see!" Evie smirked. She threw opens her door and grabbed Mal's laptop off her bed. She set it up on the desk, and logged onto video chat.

"Evie, what are you doing?" Doug asked.

Evie beamed. "I'm going to officially introduce you to my mom!" Evie exclaimed.

Doug couldn't help the goofy grin that formed on his face. "Really?"he asked, dreamily.

Evie giggled. "Definitely."

Doug sat next to her out of the line of vision of the webcam to surprise the Evil Queen, Grimhilda. Evie logged on and waited for her mom to appear on the screen. After a few moments Grimhilda figured out how to turn on the webcam.

"Evie, did I do it right? Can you hear me?" She said. She sat down and stared at her daughter through the screen. "I did it," she said, surprised.

"Hello Mommy!" Evie greeted. She waved through the screen to her mother.

"Evie smile lines will cause wrinkles," her mother warned her.

Evie rolled her eyes. "Mom that's not important right now. I actually have something to tell yo-"

"Not important?!" Her mother interrupted. "Evie, even if you didn't get the wand for whatever reason, I still want you marrying a prince. And no prince is going to want a girl with wrinkles."

"Mother," Evie said. She took a deep breath. "About the whole Prince thing. I actually met someone-"

"You already found a prince!" Her mother exclaimed. "I knew it!"

"Actually mother, I met someone," Evie interrupted. "Who is not a prince."

Grimhilda tensed up. She got up close to the screen and stared at Evie with the scariest look Evie had ever seen.

"What?!" She exclaimed. Grimhilda scowled even more when Doug came into view.

"Hello," Doug greeted weakly.

"Who. Are. You?" Grimhilda asked.

"Mother," Evie said. "This is Doug. He's Dopey's son. And my boyfriend." She mumbled the last part, hoping her mother couldn't hear. She was wrong.

"Your boyfriend!" Grimhilda yelled. "He's the son of the enemy. His father and the rest of the old man clan helped your poor stepsister Snow White. How dare you date one of their offspring?"

"Mom!" Evie said raising her voice. "He has nothing to do with that and neither do I! Can't you be happy for me?"

"He's not even a prince!" Grimhilda exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter," Evie said. "Because he loves me and I love him. That's the only thing that matters!"

"What has happened to you?" Grimhilda's face softened. "You used to be such a rotten little girl, breaking hearts left and right. Why must you turn into one of them?"

"I don't understand what you mean-"

"Goodbye Evie," the Evil Queen said, trying to sign off.

"But Mother-!"

"DON'T call me that!" Then the screen went black.

Evie sat stunned in her chair, tears flowing down her cheeks. Doug was equally surprised at The Evil Queen's reaction.

"She disowned me!" Evie sobbed. "My own mother disowned me!" She seeped into Doug's chest, staining his shirt.

"I'm so sorry," Doug said. "This is all my fault."

"No," Evie said lifting her head. "Don't blame yourself. I wouldn't change anything. I just need some alone time to think. Okay?"

"Of course." Doug said getting up. He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Bye," Evie sighed. She threw herself in her bed and cried.

End of flashback

"Oh Evie," Mal said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Evie sighed. "It just hurts, you know?"

"Have you tried calling her?"

"I can't. No wifi or cell service on the Isle."

"Ooh. That's a bummer," Mal said. "But hey don't wrote about it because tomorrow is your audition for the play and you need to be focused.

"You're right," Evie said, cheered up. "I was born for the theatre and it's my chance to show everyone."

"Now that yore feeling better, there's something I need to talk to you about," Mal said.

"About?"

"I saw Florian and Audrey kissing in the courtyard."

"OMG!"

"Right?"

"Does Jay know?" Evie asked,worried.

"No," Mal started pacing. "I was the only one who saw them. I dropped my books and they got scared and left. And I rushed here."

"Oh this is drama!" Evie giggled.

"Evie! This is serious! What are we gonna do?" Mal scolded.

"What do you mean 'what are we gonna do'? I'm not meddling. This is Audrey we're talking about," Evie said. "She'll kill us if we interfere. And we shouldn't interfere. The whole Audrey and Jay thing is just too confusing, it gives a headache. I think we should mind our own business and let them resolve it themselves for once."

"But-" Mal complained.

"No buts!" Evie said. "Leave them be. Now we should get ready for bed. We have school tomorrow."

"Fine," Mal huffed. She changed into Pjs and got into bed. Mind my own business they say, Mal thought. Have they met me?


	15. Shock

Monday came and Jane woke up with serious stomach pains. This wasn't the first time it happened, and she knew it had something to do with her diet. She got dressed and went into the kitchen to make herself some chamomile tea. Usually students aren't really allowed in, but being the headmistress's daughter did have its advantages.

She then sat at her usual table to wait for her friends. Carlos and Jay arrived soon after and piled their plates high with literally everything in the buffet table. When they sat down, looking at the food made Jane's stomach churn.

"You okay, Jane?" Carlos asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Jane lied.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" Jay asked.

"No, my stomach hurts, so I'm drinking some tea," Jane said pointing to her cup. Jay merely shrugged and continued gobbling up his breakfast. Carlos stopped eating and was looking at her, doubt written all over his face. He didn't believe she was telling the whole truth. Jane awkwardly looked at her cup as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Anything to avoid Carlos's gaze.

Soon enough the rest of her friends arrived, relieving the awkward tension. Somehow Crystal made her way into their friend group and wasted no time in sitting extremely close to Jay, earning a blush from him. Audrey tried not to scream and sat across from them. Her demeanor did not go unnoticed. The only people oblivious to it were the couple canoodling in front of her.

"So?" Audrey said a little harsher than she wanted to. "Are you guys like dating?"

Jay turned his head around. "I guess you could say that. Hey Crystal."

Crystal giggled. "Yes Jay?"

"You want to be my girlfriend?"

"Of course! Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Does Evie own 230 pairs of shoes?"

"Yes!"

"I do not!" Evie said sitting down. "It's up to 234, 214 pairs still on the Isle. And Ben says they can't ship them here!"

"Because the barrier would have to be broken in order to do so," Ben pointed out. Evie pouted sticking her tongue out at him.

Mal rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and best friend's behavior. "You guys act like children. Anyways, congrats you two. Crystal you have done a miracle, getting Jay to settle down."

"Are you sure you didn't use magic?" Ben teased.

Crustal's cheeks burned with embarrassment and Audrey's with fury. "If you'll excuse me I need to go now," Audrey said, suddenly standing up. She dumped her tray in the trash and hurriedly walked out of the cafeteria.

"I'll go check on her," Jane said walking after her.

"That was weird,"Doug said, sitting down.

"Any luck?" Ben asked.

Doug shook his head. "No he won't eat with us because Lonnie might,"

"Ugh! Lonnie said the same thing about Chad!Mal said. "We need to fix those two! Things cannot go on like this!"

"What can we do?," Ben asked. "Neither one will talk to the other and they won't go near each other."

"Don't worry," Mal smirked getting up. "I have a plan."

"Audrey!Audrey!" Jane yelled after the brunette girl. Audrey kept walking briskly to her class. "Audrey!"

"What?" Audrey angrily demanded.

Jane stopped in her tracks. "I'm just worried about you," she mumbled quietly.

Audrey's face softened. "I'm sorry Jane. But I really don't want to talk about it now." She turned to leave.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?"Jane said, causing her to stop. "The whole Crystal and Jay thing. It bothers you."

"I don't know what you're talking about Jane," Audrey hissed. "Now just drop it!"

Jane tried to apologize but Audrey was gone. Audrey sped down the hall, trying not to lose it, until she bumped into something solid.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Audrey apologized. She got up and was face to face with Florian, again.

"Funny how we keep meeting like this," Florian joked. "We always run into each other."

Audrey giggled at his corny joke. "I guess you could say that."

"Hey, can I walk you to class?" Florian asked.

Audrey smiled. "That sounds lovely."

"Lonnie, it's just History," Mal pleaded with her friend. There were five minutes until class and Lonnie had yet to leave the bathroom.

"Lonnie, please," Evie coaxed. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?"Lonnie yelled from behind the stall. She marched out of the stall and started furiously fixing her makeup in the mirror. She started by wiping the tears that stained her face. "It's a major deal! Chad probably hates me! I broke up with him. I don't think I can handle seeing him after everything."

"Lonnie," Evie asked softly. "Why did you break up with Chad?"

"You know why," Lonnie sighed. "His mother hates me and I know family is one of the most important things and I can't be the one to come between Chad and his mother."

"That's really considerate and sweet of you," Mal said. "You really love him don't, you?"

Lonnie opened her mouth as if to say something, but all she did was blush.

"That means yes," Evie smirked.

Lonnie shook her head. "No, I'm don't, I mean I don't know. To be honest, Chad was my first boyfriend and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. All I know is I care about him."

"Lonnie, you need to be true to your heart. You can't let anyone else tell you how to feel," Mal said.

Lonnie laughed. "Really? You're quoting my mother?"

Mal and Evie laughed. "Well, I might have read all her biographies," Mal smiled. "But I think you should at least tell Chad why you broke up. He deserves that."

Lonnie sighed. "I guess you're right."

Evie spoke up." Okay well let's go because we're already SUPER late to class and us VK's already have a reputation."

The three girls giggled on their way to class.

It was lunchtime and Carlos scoped out his usual table in the courtyard where he usually sat with his friends. He spotted Jane already setting down her tray and made his way to his seat. He sat next to her and soon enough his friends joined him.

"So auditions are today!" Evie exclaimed, excited. "I'm so nervous! And I'm never nervous."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, E," Mal laughed.

"Yeah," Ben agreed. "I'd be honored to have you as my costar."

"Thanks guys," Evie smiled. "That means a lot."

"So I think I've figured out a way to get Chad to talk to Lonnie." Doug said.

"How?" Lonnie asked. "I really need to apologize and explain myself and Chads ignoring me. I don't blame him, though."

"So what's your plan?" Crystal asked.

Doug smiled. "I'm glad you asked! Well-"

"Girls!" Audrey exclaimed, running up, frantically. "I need your help!"

"What's wrong Audrey?" Evie asked.

"Florian just asked me out and I don't know what to wear!" Audrey whined.

"You, not know what to wear?" Jay laughed. "That's a first. What, you ran out of dresses to wear or something?"

Audrey narrowed her eyes at him, as he was canoodling with Crystal . "No. If you must know, I really like Florian. He's different and I really want to impress him."

"Well say no more!" Evie said. "I'm on it!"

"Me two," Crystal said standing up. "BFF code of course!"

"Count me in," Lonnie said. "I kind of need a distraction."

"Count me out!" Mal said. "I'm not getting roped into this."

"I'll let you do spells on my hair," Audrey bargained.

"Deal!"

"Jane you coming?" Audrey asked.

"No, I can't. I'll see you guys later." Jane smiled politely.

"Bye!" The girls said to the guys as they left.

"Girls," Carlos shrugged.

"Yep," Ben agreed.

"So we have less than two months left of school," Doug commented. "We'll be seniors next year."

"We'll rule the school!" Jay said.

"Jay, behave yourself next year," Ben threatened.

"So Jane, the decathlon championship match is Saturday! You excited?" Carlos asked.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we might win this year!" Doug said.

"I'm feeling really good about this one," Jane smiled. "Well I should get going. I don't feel too well." As she tried to stand up she stumbled. All the guys were at their feet, worried about the young girl.

"Jane are you alright?" Ben asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," Jane weakly replied. She tried takings couple steps and almost fell if it weren't for Carlos's arms.

"Guys!" Carlos screamed. "She fainted!"


	16. Scenes and Schemes

"Calm down Carlos," Mal told the white haired boy who was currently pacing a hole into her dorm room floor.

"How can I calm down, Mal?" Carlos cried. "It's been three days and not a word from Jane!"

"She's fine," Mal said.

"I think she's just ignoring us," Evie said matter of factly. "She's embarrassed she fainted and she knows we're going to hound her about why she fainted."

"Yeah," Mal agreed. "You know Jane better than anyone. She avoids confrontation. She ran away from you when you kissed her, remember?" Mal wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing Carlos to blush furiously.

"Aww, Mal," Evie cooed. "He definitely remembers!"

"Shut up," Carlos pouted. "I'm serious. Something is wrong with Jane, there's something she's not telling us."

"Carlos," Evie said soothingly. "I'm worried about her too, but working yourself up over it is not gonna change things."

"Yeah but it doesn't hurt," Carlos sighed.

"Carlos does have a point," Mal said thoughtfully. "Jane had been acting weird lately. She hardly eats, she sleeps a lot, and her clothes are getting baggier."

"Now that you mention it, I have noticed her lack of sleep," Evie commented. "You don't think-"

"What?" Carlos asked anxiously.

"Never mind," Evie said. Mal and Carlos both gave her a curious look, but she dismissed them. "All we can do is wait for her to come to us. Everything's gonna be okay, Carlos. You know Jane would come to us if she was in serious trouble. The important thing is that she's okay now."

"I know, but I can't help but feel like the worst is yet to come," Carlos said. He plopped into Mal's bed and decided some sleep would do him some good. He drifted into a fitful sleep, having nightmares about Jane having some terrible terminal illness and dying.

When he awoke sometime later, everything was foggy and he heard voices, but they sounded so far away.

"Won't he wake up?" He heard Ben ask.

"No, he's been sleeping like a baby all day," Evie replied.

"So you're sure we won't bother him?"

"Oh, Ben, always so caring to your people but oblivious that people from the Isle sleep like lumps," Evie giggled.

"That explains why when Mal falls asleep, she's out like a light." Ben chuckled.

"Yeah," Evie sighed. "Anyway, back to rehearsing. We were at 'how can you be so naive?'"

"Ok, 'How can you be so naive, Heather? Don't you see I love you?""

"'But Eric, can't you see my father would send me away if he knew I was with a servant? ' and then I turn dramatically," Evie said walking across the room. "Then you grab my hand and pull me close to you."

"Like this?" Ben asked, doing as she said. "And then I put your hand over my heart, and say 'do you feel my heart beating? It beats for you.' Gosh this is so cheesy."

"Stay in character!" Evie huffed. "Ok let's start that again!"

"How can you be so naive, Heather? Don't you see that I love you?"

"But Eric, can't you see my father would send me away if he knew I was with a servant?" Evie turned dramatically and Ben grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him. Evie was a little breathless because of the great actor Ben was. He placed her hand on his heart

"Do you hear me heart beating? It beats for you," Ben whispered.

Evie blanked momentarily on her next line. "Uh, I can't! I won't!"

"Don't deny your feelings any longer," Ben said, closing the gap between them. After about a second they pulled apart. Ben stood wide eyed at what he'd done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry...I-"

"Oh my gosh! Ben! What did we just do?!" Evie said frantically walking around and pacing.

"We were caught up in the moment," Ben defended. "And it's written in the scene."

"Yeah," Evie huffed. "But Mal said that the performance was fine, not to go around kissing each other at every rehearsal!"

"Evie calm down!"

"I can't calm down! What have I done? I kissed my best friend's boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. I betrayed Mal! Worse I betrayed Doug!" Evie cried. She was sobbing at this point, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, her mascara running down her face.

"It's fine," Ben said, grabbing her shoulders. "Nothing happened if no one saw. We just don't tell Mal."

"I can't lie to Mal!"

"It's not lying. Its sparing her feelings."

"Well as long as no one knows..." Evie turned her head to see a frightened Carlos on Mal's bed. His mouth was agape and he was at a loss for words. "Carlos-"

Before she could say anything, Carlos sprang up from Mal's bed and ran out of the room, and out of the building as fast as he could, and he didn't dare look back.

"Are you sure about this?" Renesmee asked Audrey. "I thought you still like Jay."

"Ren!" Audrey huffed. "He who shall not be named is totally out of my mind, and furthermore going out with Florian again is exactly what I need to distract myself from my best friend dating 'you-know-who'! Okay?"

Ren frowned. She was a cheerleader on the Auradon team. She was also a sophomore and had been visiting her parents for the past month, planning her sweet sixteen.

"Whatever you say Audrey," Ren smirked. "Anyway, you coming to my birthday party?"

"Um, duh," Audrey smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Do you think I should invite the Isle kids?" Ren asked warily. "I don't know them as well as you and I want to know if you'd vouch for them."

"Totes!" Audrey exclaimed. "Honestly they're some of my closest friends! I feel terrible for how I treated them and we're on good terms now."

"Okay!" Ren said sending all her invites through text. "Give me their numbers. I trust you but if something bad happens, it's on you!"

Audrey laughed. "Yeah I'll make sure to clean up any mess Carlos makes. He's extremely clumsy." She turned in her dress. "What do you think?"

"You look great, but why didn't you ask Mal or Evie their opinions? You seem to be really close with them lately," Ren said.

"True," Audrey agreed. "But Mal could care less about clothes and would meddle with something. She's extremely manipulative and cunning. And Evie is rehearsing for the school production and told me not to interrupt her unless there was a fire or bomb."

Ren giggled. "I'm only as helpful as you make me. Remember I'm slightly blind. Well I gotta go. Good luck on your date!" She gave Audrey two thumbs up.

"Thanks," Audrey said.

Ren walked out and almost collided with a very nervous looking Chad. "Woah, careful there, you wouldn't want to prick me, now would you?" She said pointing to the bouquet in his hands.

Chad let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I should really look where I'm going."

"Are you okay? You look really tense."

"I'm fine. Or as fine as I can be considering my girlfriend broke up with me and now is avoiding me."

"You and Lonnie broke up?" Ren asked. "Wow. What a month does to you."

"Oh yeah," Chad said. "You haven't been here. Well, Lonnie broke up with me. It was a huge misunderstanding that surprisingly was NOT my fault."

"So now you're trying to win her back?"

"Yes."

"Well hate to break it to you, but she's not here now. She got dressed in sets and went on a run, like and hour ago so she's in her zone and probably won't be back for a while," Ren explained.

Chad sighed. "I just can't catch a break."

"What do you mean?"

"I've tried to apologize and win Lonnie back for weeks and she won't even look at me and it's literally killing me!"

"Wow. Would you look at that?" Ren giggled. "I never thought I'd see the day when Chad Charming would finally settle down and actually stay with a girl."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Ren, this is serious. I really like Lonnie. I've never felt this way about a girl. She makes me feel like my heart is goo. I need to win her back!"

Ren smiled. "Aww that's so sweet! You know what? I'm going to help you win her back! You've been one of my lifelong friends and you and Lonnie belong together."

"You mean that?"

"Of course!"

"Aww. I knew I could count on my favorite shorty!" Chad said, resting his elbow on Ren's head.

Ren frowned and flared up at Chad. Her hair started turning red and Chad yelped in pain.

"Ow! Ren! You almost burned me!"

Ren smirked. "That's what you get!" She strutted down the hall to her room. "Don't mock my height cuz short people will rule the world someday!"

Chad just laughed in the way to his own dorm. I can't believe I'm letting this nut job help me win back my girl, he thought. I'm just praying I'll make it out if this alive...


	17. What I Never Told You

"Jane, you have to talk with your friends eventually," Fairy Godmother cooed to her crying daughter. "They need to know what happened and why you won't be here this summer."

"Mom, I'd love to but how can I explain to them that I'm going to a rehab center?!" Jane cried between sobs. "What will they think of me? I might lose all my friends."

"Honey, you need to tell them; they're your friends after all. They'll understand." Fairy Godmother comforted.

"I don't know mom," Jane sniffled. "I've had supposed 'friends' before that left me as soon as they found out I was the headmistress's daughter."

"Jane it'll be fine."

"I know. I'm just scared to tell them I'm sick."

Mal entered her room annoyed after multiple calls and texts from Ben, tells big her that Evie had already missed two rehearsals for the school production and today was going to be her third. She tried calmly by down Ben's robot baby to no avail. One more day and their project would be over.

"Evie! " Mal yelled, startling her friend. Evie was surrounded by fabric and half fished clothing. "What happened to our room?!"

Evie looked sheepishly at the mess she had made. "Sorry Mal, I got caught up in my things, like usual. You know how it is."

"Evie, I know you better than anyone else. What's wrong? You only see like crazy when you're upset about something. Spill!"

Evie bit her lip, a sure sign that she was nervous and felt guilty about something. Ma was starting to get worried. Evie usually spilled her guts to her, hardly being able to keep a secret.

"Mal, I'm fine. I just feel stressed because of exams in two weeks. You now my stress relief is fashion." Evie lied.

"Ok.." Mal said, not believing a word. "Well you're gonna miss rehearsal again. They've been waiting for like fifteen minutes."

"Oh rehearsal," Evie said, trying to hide her lack of excitement. "Yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks. See you later." She grabbed her jacket and her bag and left the room.

Mal frowned at her friend's sudden evasiveness and secrets. Evie told her everything, why the sudden distrust?

"What are you hiding, Evie?" Mal sighed.

"So how's your baby?" Crystal asked her boyfriend. Jay squeezed their intertwined hands and she giggled.

"Fine, I guess. Audrey has him her for today and I have her tonight and tomorrow we turn the project in." Jay smiled proudly. "You?"

"Ben has BJ so we could have our date, but right now I think Mal has him cuz Ben has rehearsal." Crystal said. They were currently walking through the park, something Jay never thought of doing. But here he was with an amazing girlfriend taking a stroll through the park without a care in the world. Yet something still felt off.

"Hey, why don't we take a break and sit on a bench and just talk?" Jay said.

"Sure," Crystal smiled. They sat at a nearby bench. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us. Each other," Jay replied. "I wanna get to know you better. How about we play twenty questions?"

"Ok. Shoot."

"What's you're favorite color?"

"Easy. Blue."

"Why?"

Crystal got a dreamy look in her eyes. "Because it's the color or the sky and the sea, things that although have a certain size, seem infinite to us. I also would like to travel on a boat and study marine life."

"That's cool.." Jay said.

"You don't seem too thrilled about it." Crystal frowned.

"Well when you live on an island with a barrier surrounded by nothing but water, it's not exactly your favorite thing. Also I don't know how to swim." Jay grimaced.

"Ugh you're just like Audrey," Crystal joked. "She hates water and gets super seasick whenever we go on my dad's yacht."

"Do you know how much I'd pay to see that?!" Jay laughed. Crystal soon joined in.

"Ok.." Crystal said, calming down. "What about you?"

"Well if you mean my favorite color, it's a violist red and black. Red cuz it represents anger and black cuz it represents mystery."

"You know, red also represents love. Anger and love are both passionate emotions that are represented buy red." Crystal said thoughtfully.

Jay made a face. "I don't know about love. That emotion is hard to understand when you're a kid from the Isle."

Crystal's face dropped. "Oh."

"Oh! That's not- I didn't mean- ugh!" Jay screamed frustrated. "Next question."

"Ok," Crystal said awkwardly. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Crystal giggled. "I told you I want to study marine life. What do you want to do after high school?"

Jay furrowed his eyebrows. "I haven't really thought about it. I guess I never thought about what will happen after high school. I'm not much of a planner. I'm a more go with the flow type of guy."

"Jay! Next year we'll be seniors! It'll be our last year of high school! You need to make a plan!"

Jay frowned. "Okay, seriously you need to mellow out. It's not that big of a deal."

Crystal got up off the bench. "Not a big deal! It's the biggest deal! It's our lives, our future! How can you just sit there calmly when you have no clue what you're doing!"

Jay rolled his eyes. "As long as I have the people that are important to me in my life I'll be fine."

"No you won't! You'll end up being a janitor or something! Living on the streets! Penniless!" Crystal huffed. "Don't you see the importance of this? You have to do something now!"

Jay sighed. "Okay, look. I know you're my girlfriend and you care, but I don't really like the fact that you're getting worked up right now and yelling at me."

Crystal calmed down. "I'm sorry but you can't go through life expecting to be able to adapt in an instant. You have to plan ahead."

"As long as I have my friends I'll be fine."

Crystal pitched the bridge if her nose. "It's like you're not hearing me at all. It's not like they're going to stay forever. Besides who knows where life will take you. People drift apart and-"

"Enough! Can we please talk about something else?" Jay pleaded.

Crystal was taken aback by his sudden outburst. "Okay. Fine I get it. You don't like me talking about how you are completely unprepared for life."

Jay took a deep breath; one second away form losing it. "That's not why I'm upset. I guess we don't have that much in common. I don't know you, and you definitely don't know me..."

Jay got up from the bench and walked back to Auradon leaving a speechless Crystal alone.


	18. The Truth Hurts

"Let's get down to business!" Chad said, throwing his notebook down, startling Ren who was enjoying her seemingly peaceful breakfast. "These are all my ideas to win Lonnie back."

Curious, Ren moved her plate aside and read the notebook. She cocked a brow and looked up at an expectant Chad.

"Well?" Chad asked.

"It's completely blank," Ren said incredulously. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Chad frowned and sat down across from her. "I literally have no ideas. I stayed up all night trying to come up with a grand gesture to win Lonnie back, but as it turns out, I'm not very good at thinking, or ideas."

Ren rolled her eyes, and mumbled "no kidding" under her breath, causing Chad to roll his eyes as well. "Well honestly I think whatever you do should come from the heart."

She passed Chad his notebook and continued eating her breakfast. Chad put away his notebook and decided to get food himself. While he was preoccupied, Ren took the opportunity to observe her fellow students.

She noticed some of them walking around in pairs due to a stupid fake baby project due today. She noticed a particular pair, Jay and Audrey, bickering about who knows what. That's pretty much all they did. She wished they would just kiss already and release all the pent up frustration and sexual tension that has been brewing since the VKs stepped foot on Auradon.

She giggled to herself remembering the reaction Audrey had, after prom many people, including herself, assumed they were together after prom. After their steamy dance people just assumed that when they both ran out, "things" would ensue.

"What's so funny?" Chad asked sitting down with a heaping plate of everything.

"People," was Ren's reply. "Ok so like I said, whatever you do has to be from the heart. But you do realize that no matter what you do, you need to talk with your mom first. I mean, isn't she the whole reason Lonnie broke up with you?"

Chad sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up."

"Why?"

"Because I really don't want to talk with my mom. Ever since the incident at dinner, I've been avoiding her calls and emails. I already feel guilty enough."

Ren sighed. "Well that's rough. But you're relationship is not going to improve if you don't talk to her."

Chad frowned. "How exactly do I do that? I guess you could say I'm kind of a self proclaimed mama's boy."

"Kind of?"

"The point is I've never confronted my mother about something, or argued with her," Chad explained.

Ren pursed her lips in thought, then suddenly broke out in a smile. "You're scared aren't you Chad?"

Chad bowed his head in shame. "Very."

Ren giggled. "Well if it makes you feel better, I'll go with you. For moral support."

"Really?"

"Duh."

Chad grinned. "Great! Now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"About Lonnie."

Ren smiled a mischievous smile. "I think you need to fix this the best way you know how."

"Which is?"

"A song..."

"Good morning class!" Mr. Higgins greeted the room full of grumpy teenagers. "I hope you have all have a marvelous three weeks." He was met with groans.

"Mr. Higgins?" Vanessa, the daughter of Ariel, asked. "What exactly was the point of this assignment? To keep us up all night with a crying baby?"

"Exactly!" Mr. Higgins replied. "These weren't even real babies, yet they were difficult to manage. Imagine actually giving birth to one and raising a child!"

Everyone visibly shuddered. Audrey raised her hand shyly. "Mr. Higgins? Was the whole point of this assignment to show us how hard it is to raise a child and to avoid adding to the statistic of teen pregnancies?"

Mr Higgins smile smugly. "How did you know?"

Ben raise his hands. "Sir I can vouch that taking are of an infant, even for a month, is extremely hard. But one day I do believe I'd like to have a real child, and heir to the throne."

"Very good King Ben," Mr Higgins smiled. "Any other observations, concerns, comments."

"Yeah," Jay raise his hand. "What if I don't want to have kids."

"Well that's your choice."

"Why not?" Crystal asked. She frowned at her boyfriend and was visibly upset.

"Well.." Jay replied. "I just don't see myself as someone's dad."

"What if your wife wants a child?" Crystal asked.

"Well, honestly, I don't see myself married either," Jay said tentatively.

Crystal scoffed and turned her back to him. She was trying not to cry and listened to the rest of Mr. Higgins's lecture. Jay felt bad about what he said, but it's the truth. He couldn't be someone's dad, he didn't know how. He didn't want his kid blaming him for how they were raised like he was with his dad.

And he definitely did not see himself married. He'd have to fall in love first. And don't get him wrong, Crystal was great, more than great, but he didn't know if he could call it love. They've only been dating two weeks. Besides Crystal and him didn't exactly see eye to eye, or even have much in common. But maybe it's true that opposites attract. Just look at Ben and Mal. They were happy and in love and couldn't be any more different.

But did he really see Crystal as the future mother to his children? Jay sighed knowing the answer to that question. Maybe not her...

He shook his head trying to focus on the lesson when suddenly the bell rang. Crystal immediately ran out of the class, on the brink of tears, Audrey right on her tail. The rest of the class filed out. Ben lingered behind and placed a reassuring hand on Jay's shoulders, giving him a a knowing look, before he too left the class.

Jay needed to apologize to Crystal for being so blunt with her. While he may have wanted to be honest with her, he didn't take her feelings into consideration.

Two strikes. One more and he's out.

Mal knocked lightly on Jane's door. She was really worried about the girl who she hadn't seen since she passed out. A nervous Carlos stood next to her, twiddling his thumbs to keep himself form spazzing out form anxiety.

Jane heard the knock on the door and placed the book she was reading down. She took a deep breath and went to open the door. She knew this moment would happen sooner or later and she'd have to confront her friends over her odd behavior.

"Hi," she smiles weekly, opening the door to Mal and Carlos. "Come in."

Mal and Carlos stepped into her room. Carlos day on her bed but Mal started pacing, quite upset if Jane's mysteriousness.

"Okay Jane, I want to know and I want to know now!" Mal yelled. "Why did you faint and why are you avoiding us?"

"Mal-" Carlos tried to interject.

"No!" Mal pointed a finger at Carlos. "We deserve to know why Jane had randomly decided to ignore our texts, calls, and had stopped coming to class. And not even your mom will tell us what's going on. So Jane for the love of Auaradon, what the hell is going on?!"

Jane blinked away a couple of tears as she sat on the bed next to Carlos.. Mal's face softened. Carlos instinctively placed a hand in her shoulder.

"Jane, I'm sorry I yelled at you," Mal said sitting next to the crying girl. "By we've been worried sick. We thought you didn't want to be our friend anymore."

"That's not it-"

"Then what is it!" Mal let out and exasperated sigh.

Jane bit her lip, scared at her friends' reactions to the truth. "I'm..sick."

Carlos face dropped. "What?"

Mal gasped."What do you mean 'sick'?"

"I mean, I have anorexia," Jane cried. "I'm sorry I worried you guys. You don't now how bad I feel over how I made you guys feel and my mother-"

"Jane! Ssh. Ssh. Calm down," Mal comforted, bring the girl closer, letting her cry into her chest. Carlos stayed silent, with un shed tears in his eyes. "What do you mean anorexia? How did this happen?"

Jane sniffled. "I don't know. It just started off as eating a little less and next thing I know I passed out and the doctor said I'm malnourished and anemic and my hair's falling out and my body is becoming weaker, so weak I can barely stand, and food makes me vomit and I don't know what to do!"

"So what happens now?" Mal asked.

"I'm going to a rehabilitation clinic over the next three months to recover," Jane said. "After the therapies, they're going to see my progress. And if I'm better, I'll return to Auradon."

Mal nodded. Carlos had yet to say a word.

"Why?" Was all her asked.

Jane frowned. "Why what?"

"Why did it get this far?"Carlos asked, eating his voice. "Is this why we never saw you eat? Why you always lied and said you already ate or ate very little? Why you'd leave get togetherness early or not even show? Why do all this, Jane?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it Jane!" Carlos snapped. "Why would you stop eating? Didn't you know it would cause problems? Jane, you're a smart girl, you knew all this! What was worth so much you would do this?"

"Carlos-" Mal threatened.

"No, he's right," Jane said. "I knew better. And now it's too late to change. I'm ashamed at myself and sorry I put you all through this. I'm humiliated." She got up and locked herself in her bathroom.

"Jane!" Mal said chasing after her. She could hear the sobs behind the door. She knocked furiously on the door. "Open up!"

Carlos couldn't handle it anymore and started sobbing uncontrollably. Mal gave up and comforted her crying friend. She held him as he cried until all that was left were tear stains in her shirt. They both quietly got up and left Jane's room, knowing that they needed to help their broken, crying friend in the bathroom.

Lonnie felt that going to the opening night of the school production would be great to take her mind off her current situation with Chad and her previous encounter that morning.

Flashback

Lonnie was patiently waiting for class to start knowing that Mrs. Tham would be late, as usual. She was in her own little world, when a ball of paper landed on her desk. It was a note.

Hey- Christopher

Lonnie jotted a quick note and passed it back to him.

Hi- Lonnie

The had continued to pass notes back in forth over the entirety of their lecture that day. As Lonnie was packing up her books at the end of class, the paper landed on her desk. She looked up to see Christopher standing above her desk.

"Hi," Lonnie smiled.

"So, I heard you and Charming are doneso," Christopher blurted out.

Lonnie furrowed her brows. "Yeah I guess you could say that. What does it matter?"

Christopher chuckled nervously. "Well at first I didn't quite believe it. I mean, you two looked so happy together. But I guess the jerk was just acting before he broke your heart and dumped you."

Lonnie frowned. "Actually, I broke up with hind. And I don't see why the circumstances or details of our relationship/break up should be any of your concern. Goodbye!"

Lonnie tried to walk out, but Christopher grabbed her arm and held her back. "Wait!" He said. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go out Saturday. It could help you take your kind off your failed relationship."

Lonnie had enough. She got real close to Christopher's face. "Listen and listen good. I would never go out with you, even if you were the last piece of scum at the bottoms of the ocean. Are we clear?" She turned on her heel and headed out of the classroom. She paused at the door. "And you should really stop focusing on other's relationships and focus on your own."

With that she left the classroom with her head held high.

End of Flashback

Lonnie groaned at the memory. She was proud of herself go standing up to that jerk. But she now knew people thought that Chad dumped her and sure enough some girl would try and swoop in to steal him away. She knows it shouldn't bother her but she didn't exactly stop liking him. She just needed to do what was right. Or at least what she thought was right at the time. Now she wasn't so sure.

She had decided to meet up with Mal, who also needed to take her mind off the issue with Jane. Carlos had refused to leave his room, deciding to skip out on Evie's play and instead mope around with Jay.

"Hey," Mal greeted. "I got your text. The nerve of some people."

"I know!" Lonnie rolled her eyes. Mal giggled.

The girl bought their tickets and found seats close to the center front of the auditorium. They were so excited to see their friends, even though Mal had no idea what to expect of theater performances.

"Hey," Mal said, nudging Lonnie. "I'm gonna go find Ben and wish his good luck."

"Ok."

Backstage, Evie was a nervous wreck. "Hey," she croaked.

"What's up?" Ben asked. "The director said you're freaking out and specifically called me to help."

"Ben I can't do this!" Evie cried.

"Evie you'll be fine. I know it your first performance but-"

"Not that!" Evie hissed.

Ben frowned. "Then what are you so worked up about?"

"This!" Evie motioned between them. "I feel so guilty for lying to Doug and Mal about what's wrong. I'm literally falling apart."

"Well we can't tell them about the kiss, let's just pretend it never happened." Ben reassured her. "It didn't mean anything."

Evie sighed. "I know! But it's killing me not telling them that we kissed!"

"What?" Evie and Ben turned around to a stunned Mal. "You guys kissed?"

To be Continued...


	19. A Breakable Bond

Last time on Wicked Heart Beat..

"Well we can't tell them about the kiss, let's just pretend it never happened." Ben reassured her. "It didn't mean anything."

Evie sighed. "I know! But it's killing me not telling them that we kissed!"

"What?" Evie and Ben turned around to a stunned Mal. "You guys kissed?"

Both teens stood shocked not knowing what to say. Mal looked between the two of them, the realization that what Evie had said was true hitting her like punch in the stomach.

"Well?" She yelled. "Are you guys going to answer me?"

"Mal-" Evie started.

"Stop!" Mal interrupted, her eyes a burning green. "I don't need to hear this! There is nothing you can say to make this better. My best friend kissed my boyfriend. I need to get out of here!"

Ben grabbed her hand in a desperate attempt to try to explain himself. Mal ripped her hand away form his grasp, as if he were acid.

"Mal-" Ben tried.

"Don't-"She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Mal,please let us explain!" Ben pleaded.

"Explain what? How my boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend. What's to explain? How could you two do this to me?" Mal cried.

"M, please-" Evie begged.

"Don't call me that!" Mal snapped. "And to think, I thought I was the most evil person in Auradon."

"Five minutes till showtime!" the backstage manager yelled.

"Mal, please don't go!" Ben said.

"I guess I was wrong." Mal turned on her heel, pushing past Doug, and leaving the theater.

Doug's buckled turned white from holding the bouquet in his hands tight. He rubbed his shoulder where Mal shoved him, but from what he overheard, he could care less about that at the moment.

Evie gasped, seeing that Doug heard everything. "Doug! I-I...I.."

"I just wanted to wish you good luck on the play," Doug said quietly, his eyes turning red. "I'll be going now." He shook his head and headed towards the exit, dumping the flowers in the trash on his way out.

Evie at this point was sobbing uncontrollably, losing Doug for the second time that year. Gosh, why did she screw up so much?! Not to mention she lost her best friend and Mal probably hated her.

Ben let out a long breath and sat on a nearby speaker. He put his head in his hands."I can't believe this is happening."

Evie only sobbed harder. "What have we done?

Audrey watched, bored, as Crystal kept dialing Jay's number unable to press the talk button, for the hundredth time. The girls were relaxing in their room while Audrey tried reading 'Princess Monthly', only to be distracted by her best friend's turmoil.

Eventually Crystal gave up, screamed in frustration and threw her phone against her bed, flopping on it. The two girls stayed in silence as Crystal stared at the ceiling and Audrey stared at her.

"Am I crazy?" Crystal finally asked.

"Yeah," Audrey teased, returning again to her fashion magazine.

Crystal sighed and sat up. "No, like seriously, Audrey. Am I crazy?"

"Obviously, but only because every girl is crazy," Audrey said. "Why do you ask?"

Crystal sighed. "I think I take things to heart too easily and tend to overreact."

"Is this about Jay?" Audrey asked, setting down her magazine.

"Yeah," Crystal frowned.

"Honestly, you're really not," Audrey said, truthfully. "You're a pretty chill girl. At least at this school. Even Mal can be a little extra sometimes."

Crystal laughed. "Thanks Audrey. But honestly I think I overreacted in class today. But Jay just made me so mad!"

"I hate to say it, but told you so," Audrey sighed.

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Not helping Audrey."

"Sorry."

"I get it," Crystal said. "Maybe we're too young to be planning our futures, but I like it! I really thought Jay could be the one, you know? But then he blows me off in front of the whole class!"

Audrey frowned. "Crystal, it's really not something you should be getting so worked about. Talk to him, that'll fix things."

"I guess you're right," Crystal sighed. She laid back down on her bed, still staring at the ceiling. Audrey, feeling satisfied that she helped her friend, started scrolling through her phone.

"You know something?" Crystal thought aloud. "I know we're young and all, but I thought the baby project might make him want to be a father someday."

"Okay," Audrey said, setting her phone down. She moved across the room and sat next to Crystal."I see you're not gonna let this go that easily. So let's talk."

"Am I crazy?"

"Crystal!"

"I'm sorry! It's just that I thought that Jay might've learned something from the project," Crystal explained.

"Like what?"

"Like how to be a father?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Really? How?"

"Well, how was he with Lily?"

Audrey thought for a moment. "Well at first, he was totally against the whole baby project, calling it stupid and calling Lily an it. But then I threatened him and he started calling her by her name. He even named her himself."

"Really?" Crystal asked, confused.

"Yeah. I wanted Tiara but he said no, so he chose Lily. It's actually a really pretty name. And then he told me the meaning of it-"

"What?"

Audrey laughed. "Yeah I know, right? It was really random, too. But I guess Carlos kind of rubbed off on him. And then he told me the meaning of my name and stuff." Audrey smiled at the memory.

"Ben and I just named BJ Benjamin Jr because it was easy," Crystal admitted. "We didn't put so much thought into the project."

"We didn't either. It was more of a spur of the moment thing," Audrey laughed. "Even if he won't admit it, I think Jay enjoyed himself more than he thought he would. He really liked Lily. Why else would he have wanted to have her for the last night?"

Crystal laughed also, even if she didn't really mean it. "Well, if that were true, then I guess it means he did enjoy the baby, even if it wasn't real."

Audrey shrugged."I guess."

"Then what's with the sudden change of mood?"

"I don't know. I mean we talked very little. Mostly for the benefit of the project. But I got to admit he did seem more comfortable with the baby as time wore on. Carlos even told me that he caught Jay talking baby talk to her. But from what I could tell, he almost seemed scared of Lily." Audrey said.

"How so?"

Audrey pursed her lips. "Well, it doesn't take a genius to know that the VKs had a special type of childhood. I've talked to Mal and Evie and from them, I learned being a villain's kid is downright awful. Carlos's mom is especially nasty."

Crystal sighed. "Well now that you mention it, Jay did tell me that his dad was never really proud of him or showed him any affection at all. Could that be it?"

"How long ago was this?"

"Well, same day he asked me out," Crystal said, doing the math in her head. "So maybe two weeks ago."

Audrey's expression faltered. "Oh."

Crystal frowned. "What do you mean 'oh'."

Audrey shrugged. "It's nothing. I just realized that must have been the day I saw you two kissing."

"Oh," Crystal said quietly.

"But maybe Jay is scared of becoming just like his father," Audrey said, changing the subject.

Crystal noticed her friend's sudden change, but dismissed this as Audrey's flightiness. "I don't know.."

"That has to be it!" Audrey said, excited. She just had a major aha moment. "I remember that once we were joking around during free period and I mentioned you and him having a bouquet because we name our baby Lily. You know just me being punny, and he tensed up. He tried to play it off, but I still noticed."

Crystal frowned. "Audrey, I thought you hated Jay. And suddenly you two are joking around?"

"Yeah and?"Audrey asked, not sure where her friend was going with this.

"Didn't you and Jay have like a major fight?"

"Well yeah, but I guess it's forgotten."

Crystal frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I guess spending time together, we realized that it was stupid. Besides its for the best." Audrey smiled. "If he's gonna date my best friend, we should probably get along."

"But you two? Getting along hasn't exactly worked out for you two before. Remember prom?"

Audrey laughed. "That was so stupid. Besides you're important to me and if Jay makes you happy then I guess I have to support that. Well before he pissed you off today."

"Well honestly, Jay and I had a fight before today," Crystal admitted. "We were talking and we realized we don't have a lot in common."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like he doesn't see the world like I do. He thinks life is game. Just go with the flow! Can you believe him?" Crystal sighed in frustration. She got up off her bed and started pacing angrily.

"Well kind of, " Audrey said sheepishly. "Is it so bad to not have everything planned out? Like you should still set goals, but if you plan everything so exact, you may not be flexible if life doesn't go the way it's supposed to."

"See that's that crazy talk he said!" Crystal said.

"Crazy?" Audrey said, offended. "Just because it's not how you think doesn't make it wrong!"

"So now you're on his side?"

"What! I never said that!"

"But you're thinking it!" Crystal yelled. "I should've known something was up!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You like Jay!" Crystal accused.

"What!" Audrey hissed. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, I should've known it was weird that you two have so much in common! You used the baby assignment to get closer to him!" Crystal continued.

Audrey could not believe what she was hearing. "Crystal where is this coming from? And me and Jay have absolutely nothing in common!"

Crystal scoffed. "I beg to differ. You're both hot headed, short tempered athletes. You're both stubborn and selfish sometimes. "

"Oh geez. With friends like you, who need enemies?" Audrey quipped. "What are my other alluring qualities?"

"That!" Crystal said. "You're sarcastic when you're upset. And it's the little things too, like how you can't hide the fact that you're jealous or how you're freaking scared of the ocean!"

"What does the ocean have to do with this?"

"Everything! You've liked Jay this whole time without telling me!"

Audrey gulped. "Is that what you really think?!"

"Yes!" Crystal said, tearing up. "I can't believe I couldn't see it before! I knew you liked Jay before but I thought you got over him. But no! You've liked him this whole time.

"Crystal,that is absolutely absurd!"

"Is it? That's why you were avoiding us! You were jealous weren't you?"Crystal yelled.

Audrey remained silent, taking in everything Crystal had said. She had been avoiding them because she was jealous. But she would never admit that.

"See! You just proved it right there!" Crystal said, screaming hysterically. Audrey would be surprised if the whole building couldn't hear her.

Audrey was stunned. "Crystal I don't like Jay. I never have!"

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Stop lying to yourself. Matter of fact,you can stop lying to me and to everyone else!"

"I'm not lying! I'm with your brother, for goodness sake!" Audrey persisted.

"That makes it worse! You brought my brother into this!"

"Crystal!" Audrey yelled. "Are you even hearing yourself? Please calm down. You and Jay are together. You can't let your first argument as a couple destroy your relationship."

Crystal sighed. "I don't even think this has anything to do with me! You and Jay have this unresolved thing. And don't deny it! Because not to long ago, Mal, Evie and I were teasing you about it."

"Crystal, I swear to God that Jay and I have no thing. We have absolutely nothing. Yeah maybe we're friends now, maybe, but that doesn't mean anything."

"It mean everything!" Crystal said, hysterically crying. "And what's worse is that he likes you. He's always liked you. And I'm just a replacement!"

"What?! Are you serious?" Audrey said. She grabbed Crystal's shoulders and tried to calm down the crying girl. "Jay likes you. You heard that? Y-O-U! Why else would he go out with you?"

Crystal scoffed and tore herself away from Audrey. "Because he can't get the girl he's in love with."

Without another word, Crystal got her stuff and walked out, leaving Audrey speechless.

Evie could mentally hear the Jaws theme as she neared her dorm. The play had been a success, even though both of the leads had been distracted and messed up some lines. Now she had to face her dilemma. Ben was giving Mal some time to cool off before trying to explain what happened. Evie had no choice, seeing as she shared a room with her.

She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. She carefully placed her hand on the knob and opened the door. She was immediately met with a pillow to the face.

"Okay," Evie said calmly. "I can see you're still upset. But really? A pillow? Can we at least talk like mature adults?"

"You're lucky I only threw a pillow at you," Mal hissed, green eyes glowing."I was considering throwing my computer at you, but I like my laptop too much."

"Okay," Evie said, drawing in a breath. "I know you're upset, and what I did is inexcusable-"

"You think?!"

"- but I think before you make your last judgement, you should give me a chance to explain." Evie finished,

"You have a minute, use it wisely." Mal spat.

Evie silently prayed. "Okay so, the kiss wasn't supposed to happen. Like at all. But Ben and I were rehearsing for the play and we had to kiss in the scene and I know we promised to be responsible but we got caught up in the moment, and we kissed and Carlos ran out of the room-"

"Carlos knew?!"

"Well yeah, I guess we woke him up. But Mal I swear that it meant nothing!" Evie was on her knees, hands clasped in desperation.

"You know, now that you explained everything, it doesn't hurt so much that you guys kissed." Mal said.

"OMG Mal you don't know how much-"

"What hurts more is that my boyfriend and two of my supposed best friends kept this from me for who knows how long." Mal said, tearing up.

Evie was on the verge of tears, too. "Mal-"

"No! Save it. Didn't you trust me to understand if you just explained what had happened?"

"Mal, I-"

"The thing is I trusted you Evie, but you couldn't trust me."

"Mal can't you forgive me?" Evie pleaded.

"Yes," Mal said. "I forgive you, because I'm trying to be a better person. I'm trying to be good."

"Mal that's great! I'm so relieved!" Evie chattered excitedly. "I thought you'd be mad at us forever-"

"Evie we're best friends. Any solid relationship, however, is based on trust. Evie you betrayed my trust. So I think the best thing is for us to not be friends anymore."

"Mal-"

"Or roommates for that matter!"

"But-"Evie tried to reason, on the verge of breaking down in tears.

"Just go away!" Mal yelled.

Evie nodded and packed her stuff to crash somewhere else. She knew she deserved everything that she was getting. Once she was finished packing her toiletries, she saw Mal hiding under the covers and heard muffled sobbing.

"Just for the record," Evie said, leaving. "I never meant to hurt you."


	20. Faking It

Jay groaned and rolled over on his bed. In the darkness the alarm clock read 9:34 pm. It was too early to be going to bed, but after the day he's had, all he wanted was to fall asleep and forget everything for awhile. He looked over at Carlos who was cuddled up against Dude, rubbing his belly and staring at the ceiling. Carlos has been oddly quiet all night, which was weird for him. He only ever got like that when he had a lot on his mind.

"You want to talk about it?" Jay asked.

"No," came the feeble reply. If Jay didn't know any better he would have thought Carlos was crying.

He got up off his bed and sat on Carlos's bed. Carlos scooted over to give him more room.

"Dude," Jay said. "Are you okay?"

Carlos sighed and sat up, still holding Dude in his lap. "Not really."

"What's wrong?"

Carlos hesitated. He didn't know if he should tell Jay because Jane had told him not to but he wanted to talk to talk to someone about it.

"Well?"Jay asked impatiently.

"Jane's leaving over the summer," Carlos said.

"Dude, really?" Jay laughed. "You're all hung about your little girlfriend going on vacation. That's adorable!"

"It's not for a vacation," Carlos said seriously. Immediately Jay stopped laughing. The look on Carlos's face could only be described as worry, fear, and sadness.

"Dude, tell me what's going on," Jay said.

"The thing is that..." Carlos paused. "Jane's going to rehab."

"What?"

"Jay, Jane's anorexic," Carlos said softly.

"WHAT?" Soon Jay was in his feet. "Why would little Jane be anorexic? Was she bullied? Because I swear I will beat them to a pulp, gender not meaning a thing. Those a**holes need to pay!"

"Jay calm down," Carlos said. "Jane wasn't bullied. If she was she would have told us."

"Oh," Jay said, sitting down. "Well then why is this happening?"

"I don't know," Carlos said strained. "She seemed so happy, but I guess that's why she's going to rehab. To help her with whatever issues she has and to find the root of her illness."

"You really care about her don't you?" Jay asked quietly.

"Jay don't start," Carlos warned. "I don't like Jane like that."

"I never said you like her. I said you care about her." Jay pointed out. "I care about you, Evie and Mal but that doesn't mean I want to date any of you. You guys are like family."

"Well I guess u do care about Jane. A lot. But the worst thing is that we all saw the signs and noticed something was wrong but instead of addressing it, we shrugged it off and now it's too late to change that."

Jay was silent, deep in thought. That sounded exactly like his situation with Crystal. Things had been tense and awkward between them lately and neither one of them was trying to find a solution. Instead they were both avoiding it and he didn't want things to get so bad they couldn't be fixed.

"Dude, you'll be alright. Jane will be fine; she's a tough girl," Jay comforted. "But right now you talked some sense into me and I have to go fix something I messed up."

Carlos smiled. "You're right. I should have faith in Jane. And go get her!"

Jay wasted no time in running out of the room, heading for the girls dorms.

Mal finished cutting Evie out of all her pictures and looked at the damage done. Her bed was covered with photographs of them or with out her people, where she carefully cut out Evie's face. She took all the cutouts and threw them in her garbage bin. She took out a lighter she had sneaked into Auradon and was about to like the trash when there was a knock at the door. Mal got up in a huff and opened the door expecting to see her ex best friend begging for forgiveness. Instead she saw Crystal with a sleeping bag and backpack.

"Crystal?" What are you doing here? At 10 at night?" Mal asked, confused.

"Can I crash here tonight?" Crystal asked shyly. "Audrey and I had a fight and I thought maybe I could sleep here with you and Evie."

"Well you thought wrong," Mal said, letting her inside. "It'll just be me. Evie no longer lives here."

"What? Why?"

"Because she's a no good backstabbing, boyfriend stealing, cheating jerk." Mal spat.

Crystal was shocked to hear Mal referring to Evie like that. "Mal, what happened?"

Mal sighed. "Evie kissed Ben and then they both kept a secret from me. And now I'm not talking to either one of them."

"That's sucks," Crystal said. "But at least you're not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Audrey and I had an argument over Jay. Jay and I had a fight and I kinda blamed her for the whole thing."

"Why? What did she do?" Mal asked, confused.

"Well it's a long story, but I blamed her for Jay and I drifting apart. I guess I should've known her feelings for him hadn't fully left," Crystal explained.

"Hold up!" Mal said, trying to process everything. "You didn't know?"

"You did?"

"It was the most obvious thing ever. I guess she got over it because she's dating your brother," Mal said." But it was noticeable that whenever you and Jay were together, that she was jealous."

"I can't believe I couldn't see it!" Crystal said mentally slapping herself. "But that doesn't change the fact that she flirted with Jay."

"Did she?"

"It's a long story and it's been a long night. Can I just go to sleep?"

Mal sighed. "I think some sleep could do us both some good."

Jay stood shaking out his nerves in front of Crystals dorm holding a pathetic bouquet. He couldn't go get flowers at this hour so he plucked some from a planter and would have to apologize to Fairy Godmother later. As sad as they were, they would have to do. He drew in a breath and knocked on the door.

Audrey, who had been trying to fall asleep after her fight with Crystal literally jumped out of the bed, hoping Crystal had returned so they could apologize and talk everything out. But when she opened the door she was met with the last person on earth she wanted to see right now. She immediately slammed the door in his face.

"Audrey.." Jay pleaded. "Please open the door."

Audrey opened the door a crack. "Go away!"

"Please!"

"No, Crystal is really mad at you, so I'm equally mad at you, if not even more!" She slammed the door again.

Jay groaned at how difficult Audrey was being.

"Audrey seriously I need to talk to Crystal!" He started banging on the door.

Audrey opened the door again, seething at him. "Will you stop! You'll wake everyone up and then we'll have to explain why you're here after curfew."

"I could care less," Jay said, pushing past her and entering her dorm. Audrey closed the behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jay came out of the bathroom. "Where the heck is Crystal?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not know? She's your best friend and roommate!"

Audrey frowned and looked down. "I don't know, okay? Crystal and I had a fight and she stormed out. She won't answer my texts or call and I'm assuming that she's not talking to me at the moment. She's probably crashing in someone's dorm."

"What did you guys fight about?" Jay asked. Normally he wouldn't have cared but something about Audrey's face told him it was serious.

Audrey tensed at this question. "Nothing! Now get out!" She turned him around and tried pushing him out of her room. But Jay was a well built guy and noticeably taller, so the task was more of a struggle than she thought.

"Wait!" Jay said, laughing at her struggle. He moved slightly over and Audrey tripped as she tried to push forward and landed on her face. "Why don't you want to tell me?"

Audrey got up and brushed herself off, fuming at the obnoxious guy in front of her. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know?"

"Then just get -"

"Hey is that my jersey?" Jay asked suddenly, pointing at the tshirt Audrey was wearing.

Audrey looked at her shirt and shrugged. "Is it?"

"Turn around."

Audrey did as she was told and spun around to give Jay a full view of the shirt. There was a bright and clear 8 on the jersey, Jays number.

"Yep that's definitely my jersey," Jay commented. "How did you get it?"

Audrey shrugged. "I don't know. I think I borrowed it when I slept over at Mal and Evie's dorm."

Jay smirked. "Well you look good in it."

Audrey tried to hide her blush at his compliment, but Jay noticed.

"Would you look at that?" Jay smiled. "I made big bad Audrey blush."

Audrey frowned. "You need to stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"That! The weird compliments and flirting and stuff!" Audrey said.

Jay frowned. "Why? I'm not doing anything. It's cute that you think I'm flirting, but I have a girlfriend."

"You're right!" Audrey said. She started pulling him out of her room. "You should go find her and apologize, make up, and be happy."

"Wait a a minuet!" Jay said, planting his feet on the ground, making it impossible for Audrey to move him. She collided into his chest as he turned around. They stayed in that position liking agency other awkwardly.

"Well, um.." Audrey said, backing away form him and sitting on her bed. "You should go. It's late and Crystals not here, so bye!"

Jay frowned and sat next to her on her bed. Due to the closeness, Audrey loved over. Then Jay moved over, then Audrey again. They keep doing this until Audrey fell of her bed.

"Ow!"

"I knew it!" Jay said. "You've been avoiding me! Why?"

"I haven't been avoiding you!"Audrey defended.

"Yes you have! You haven't eaten with the gang, and you're literally trying to push me out of your room." Jay accused. "I thought we were friends. What happened?"

Audrey bit her lip. "Look, I guess we're friends, or enemies or frenemies. But right now I can't talk to you. It will only make things worse."

"What? How?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Audrey-"

"No, just leave!"Audrey yelled in his face. She looked back at the floor, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for the weight on her bed to go away. But it never did. She looked up and saw Jay still sitting next to her, staring at her expectantly.

"Well.." Jay pressed.

"Ugh!" Audrey groaned. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?!"

"Why do you?"

And just like that, everything that Crystal had said, went flashing through her mind, and Audrey knew that every single think Crystal had said was 100% true.

"Look, Jay, it's getting late, and you need to be in your own dorm room. So I think you should leave."

But Jay wasn't giving up that easily. "Not until you tell me why you and Crystal fought."

"Ugh, are you seriously still on that?"

"Yes and I'll keep bugging you until you tell me. So.. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me-"

"Alright, fine!" Audrey said.

"Yay!"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "But only because you're so annoying."

"Thank you!"

"Wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

Audrey rolled her eyes again. "Okay, if I'm being completely honest, Crystal and I fought over you."

"What?" Jay smirked.

Audrey scoffed. "Not like that you idiot! But she basically blamed all her problems with you on me!"

Jays smirk disappeared. "What? That's ridiculous. What do you have to do with anything?"

Audrey sighed. "She said I was the reason you guys were drifting apart and went on to say that you like me and I like you and-"

"Wait, what?" Jay gulped.

"Yeah, I know it's crazy-"

"Why would she think that I like you and you like me, unless.."

Audrey smacked him. "No! She just said that we had some unresolved thing and whatever, but she's crazy right? Because I don't like you, and you don't like me, right? Right?"

Jay gulped. "Yeah, of course."

"So now you see why you being here is a bad idea," Audrey said.

Jay shook his head. "It's not like we're doing anything bad. Because there's absolutely nothing between us, right?"

Audrey looked at him and realized how close they were. "Right."

"I really need to talk to Crystal. She can't blame you for how our relationship is going. You're a good friend, you know that?" Jay smiled.

Audrey blushed. "Thanks."

They say in comfortable silence just staring at each other, until Audrey cleared her throat. "Jay seriously it's almost midnight. We have school tomorrow."

"Uh yeah," Jay said, snapping out of his thoughts. He scratched his neck nervously. "I'll see you tomorrow and stuff. I'll try to talk to Crystal about everything. Sorry about everything."

"It's fine,"Audrey said. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

Audrey closed the door behind him and slid down it. She let out a breath and latex her head in her hands. It was getting harder and harder to avoid the obvious truth. But for Crystal's benefit she needed to pretend a little longer.

She harts a knock on the door again. "Seriously Jay?" She asked. But he was nowhere in sight. Instead a crying Evie looked sheepishly at her.

"Can I stay the night?" She asked.

Audrey hugged her. "Of course. You and I need to do some talking."


	21. Oh No She Didn't

As Carlos and Jay entered the cafeteria for breakfast, it was deafeningly quiet. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a sword. It had been three days and nothing had been resolved. On one side of the room was Evie and Audrey, and Ben picking at his food at the far side of the table, opposite of Evie. On the other side of the room was Crystal talking with Lonnie, and Mal, eyes a bright green, glaring at her ex-best friend. In the center of it all were a clueless Chad and moping Doug. Carlos and Jay decided to take their chances with them.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked.

"Shh!" Chad shushed.

"Okay," Jay whispered. "What's going on?"

"The most popular and notorious kids at Auradon are in a major feud," Chad explained. "And everyone is more involved in the drama than their own boring lives."

"A feud?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, and you're in the middle," Doug added. "As am I."

"You're not in the middle," Carlos clarified. "You're more like directly affected by it."

Chad glared at Carlos, shutting him up.

"Wow, what's with the gloom squad?" Ren said, setting her plate next to Chad. "Who died?"

"Their relationships," Carlos said, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Jay.

"Ooh, rough," Ren commented. "Well I'm helping Chad right now, but I'll be willing to help with y'all's relationship woes."

"Don't bother," Doug muttered and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Doug-" Evie tried calling after him, but it was no use. He snubbed her and continued on his way. Evie sat down in a huff and started pouring and crying, Audrey trying to comfort her.

"It's no use," Evie cried. "He won't even look at me. I need to explain what happened."

"I know," Audrey cooed. "But you just need to let him cool down."

"I know," Evie sighed. Suddenly she got up. "This is all your fault!" She pointed a finger at Ben.

"Me? What did I do?" Ben asked.

"Oh don't play dumb!" Evie yelled. Everyone was staring at them now, especially Mal. "None of this would be happening if you hadn't kissed me!"

"Evie please calm down," Ben said. "It wasn't like you didn't kiss back."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Evie yelled. "This is all your fault!" With that she stormed out of the cafeteria. Mal made a motion almost as if to run after her, but she sat right back down. She caught Ben's eyes with her own and they stared at each other. Ben's eyes softened, as if asking for forgiveness. Mal frowned. Why did that boy make her heart soar, even with one look? But she wouldn't relent. She gave him a cold, icy stare, eyes glowing. She mustered up all her strength and anger and stormed out of the cafeteria, with Crystal at her heels.

It felt as if the whole cafeteria let out a sigh of relief, intently watching the scene play out in front of them. The school had even divided itself into sides. Some wanted Mal and Ben to reconcile, the Bal shippers, while some actually liked Evie with Ben, the Bevie shippers.

"This is getting out of hand!" Jay said. "Why is everything falling apart? Seriously, why is there so much drama in Auradon."

"Don't look now, but drama is making her way over here," Ren said.

Jay turned around and saw Audrey get up and walk to their table. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Audrey said softly. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Jay said, motioning for her to sit down.

"I mean outside, alone." Audrey said. "Away from all the gossiping eyes."

"Alright then," Jay said, following her out of the cafeteria.

As soon as people saw Jay leave with Audrey the whispers in the cafeteria immediately turned to chatter. Carlos turned to his right and saw guys placing bets on who Jay would pick. To his left girls were gossiping about Mal and Evie.

"Okay this is getting out of hand," Carlos said, standing up. "I'm getting out of here. See you guys later." Ren and Chad waved to him goodbye.

"So," Ren said. "You have dinner with your parents tonight, right?"

"Yeah," Chad said, between bites of waffle.

"Stop being nasty and talking with your mouth full," Ren scolded. "It's completely grossing me out."

"You mean this?" Chad said opening his mouth and showing Ren the chewed up food. Ren frowned and hit him. Chad almost choked on his food,laughing. That caused Ren to burst out into laughter too.

Lonnie watched Chad from across the cafeteria. She saw how comfortable he was with Ren. That made her very upset and it didn't help that the girls behind were giggling about how cute they looked as a couple. She wanted to turn around and yell at them that Ren and Chad were not a couple. But she wasn't even sure about that herself.

She decided that she needed to talk to Chad and made her way to where he was sitting. She was behind him and was about to get his attention when she overheard their conversation.

"But, yeah," Chad said, after he calmed down form his laughing fit. "Tonight I'm having dinner with my parents and you have to come!"

"I'd be honored," Ren giggled.

"And you have to help me convince my mom that , although she means the world to me, she can't be rude to my girlfriends and that I can date whoever I wish to date!" Chad said.

Lonnie frowned. So it was true. Chad had moved on. She should've known.

"I pinky promise," Ren said, holding out her pinky.

"Great!" Chad said. He hugged her. "You are amazing!"

"Tell me something I don't know," Ren giggled.

Lonnie couldn't take it anymore. She turned to leave and bumped into someone. That someone turned out to be Christopher. Great.

"Hey Lonnie," Christopher said. "Look, about what I said the other day, I'm sorry. I know I sounded like a jerk-"

"It's cool Christopher," Lonnie said, raising her voice so Chad could hear. "About that date, how about we go catch a movie tonight?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chad staring intently at her, crushing his soda can in his hand.

"Really?" Christopher smiled. "Of course. Pick you up at 7."

"Perfect," Lonnie smiled. Christopher sat down at his table and a couple of his friends high fived him. Lonnie turned around and saw Chad glaring at her and Ren ready to hold him back if he tried something. Lonnie just rolled her eyes and walked out of the cafeteria. If Chad could move on, so could she.


	22. Risks

Audrey marched out of the cafeteria as quickly as she could, Jay at her heels.

"Yo! Audrey slow down!" Jay said, grabbing her arm to stop her. Audrey turned around and started pacing.

"What are we gonna do?" She said panicking. "This can not go on like this. There's literally only a few weeks of school left and I don't know about you but I really don't want to spend my summer with all this tension."

"How do you think I feel?" Jay said exasperated. "My girlfriend won't even look at me! My best friends, almost sisters, are in a major fight over some guy. Carlos, literally like a little bro to me is heartbroken, and to top it all off the only person I can actually talk to about any of this is my sworn enemy!"

"Gee thanks," Audrey said sarcastically. "Glad to be your shoulder to cry on. Too bad we're sworn enemies."

Jay rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. You hate me." He sat down on a bench.

Audrey paused a moment. "I don't." She whispered.

"What?"

"I don't hate you," she said, sitting down as far away from him on the bench.

"You don't?" Jay asked, genuinely surprised.

"I used to, don't get me wrong,"Audrey chuckled, earning a laugh out of Jay. "I hated the idea of having VKs at Auradon. And you all didn't make a great first impression. But not everyone at Auradon is a saint either."

"So to clarify," Jay said. "You don't hate me?"

"No," Audrey giggled. "Obviously Mal, Evie and I have become closer. Carlos is adorable and you've become more... tolerable."

Jay rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Tolerable? That's the best you got?"

"Maybe?" Audrey teased. The both burst into laughter. When they stopped they stared at each other, just realizing how close they've gotten.

"So.." Jay said clearing his throat. "Can we be..friends? Maybe?" He stood out his hand.

"Totally," Audrey smiled. She went to shake his hand in a truce but immediately pulled away.

"You okay?" Jay asked.

"Um yeah," Audrey said. "I just remembered that I have something to do! Bye!"

Audrey literally ran away as fast as she could and turned the corner, hiding in an open classroom. Jay sat, bewildered at Audrey's strange behavior. He looked down at his hand that Audrey shook. He furrowed his brow. Why was it tingling?

"Who are you hiding from?" Someone whispered directly into Audrey's ear. She jumped and let out a startled shriek. She turned around to face a sheepish Doug. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Oh Doug, it's just you," Audrey said, clutching her chest. She took a moment to compose herself. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Again, sorry," he said. Audrey realized they were in the chem lab. Doug hopped onto one of the tables. "So who are you hiding from?" He smirked.

Audrey blushed. "And what makes you think I'm hiding from someone?"

Doug chuckled. "Because you literally ran in here as if a mad maniac is out to murder you."

Audrey only stared. Doug's smile stopped. "Are you being chased by a mad maniac out to murder you?!" Doug grabbed Audrey and pulled her away door, and closed the blinds to the door's window, double checking to see that no one was there.

"No," Audrey sighed. "The only mad maniac is me."

"And why is that?"

"I don't know whether I'm the problem anymore!"

"Oh," Doug said. "You're hiding from Jay."

"What!" Audrey blushed. "What- how- no!"

Doug smiled. "Aha."

"Why would I be hiding from Jay?" Audrey replied indignantly.

Doug shook his head, laughing. "Audrey it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I've heard the rumors. I've observed things. And I've known you since preschool. You like Jay."

"Doug I know you think you're some kind of genius-"

"Well I've been tested-"

"-but I need you to know that you're wrong about this one!" Audrey finished.

"I'm never wrong," Doug said matter of factly.

"Well you are now," Audrey sighed, sitting next to him. "Jay and I are just friends."

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than me," Doug smirked.

Audrey blushed and shoved him. "Don't you have your own problems."

Doug frowned. "Don't remind me."

"Look, I talked to Evie," Audrey said. "She so upset. She told me that she didn't even initiate the kiss. And she wanted to tell you and Mal but Ben thought otherwise. Can't Believe Ben would do that though."

"Evie really said that?" Doug asked.

"Yeah, I think you should go talk to her."

Doug smiled, hopping off the table. "You're right. Avoiding each other will not solve anything."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "That was directed at me, wasn't it?"

Doug paused at the door." You know it!" Doug smirked and ran out of the room.

Audrey sat on the desk and thought about Doug's words until her thoughts were interrupted by the bell, signaling first period was about to start.

"Maybe I should stop trying to avoid my problems," Audrey muttered, grabbing her stuff. She saw Crystal walking to homeroom.

"Well it's now or never," she said walking out of the classroom.


	23. Just Kiss It All Better

Homeroom was no better than the cafeteria. The VKs and AKs had formed sides of the classroom and the rest of the students had filed in, sitting on the side they were on. The teacher had walked in and sensed the tension and gave them a free period, quickly rushing out of the room, locking the door behind him. Carlos sat in the back with Chad watching as neither side said a word.

Crystal walked in with Audrey at her heels. " I don't want to hear it Audrey!"

"Please Crystal, can we talk?" Audrey pleaded.

Crystal sighed. The teacher walked in but all eyes were on them. "Fine. After class." She sat down, completely ignoring everyone. The class was tense and silent, waiting for the bell to ring and the drama to begin.

The period ended and Crystal and Audrey rushed out of the class, with everyone trailing behind.

"Okay," Crystal said, turning around. "You got five minutes to talk."

Audrey looked around at the crowd that had formed. "Can we talk somewhere more private? Away from wandering eyes?"

Crystal scoffed. "Anything you have to say, you can say in front of them."

Audrey sighed. "Fine. If it means I can get my best friend back."

"You have 4 minutes now."

Audrey gulped. "Look Crystal, we've been friends for as long as I can remember. There is nothing in this world that's more important than our friendship, not even a boy. And between Jay and I? There's absolutely nothing. You have to understand that. Yes you guys may have some problems, but what couple doesn't? But I promise I had nothing to do with it. Do you forgive me?"

Crystal smiled. "Of course I do! I've missed you so much and Mal does not like to talk about fashion and shoes like you do."

Audrey giggled. "And honestly you should go and talk to Jay. If you think he's worth it, you need to fight for your relationship. But if you don't, and he's an idiot, well then you need to move on."

"Honestly I think he's worth it," Crystal said blushing.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Audrey and Crystal turned around to Jay, who was holding a bouquet of lilies.

"Jay.." Crystal gasped. The crowd that had grown was staring in awe at the romantic moment.

"Crystal, I know I've been an idiot lately. Well, I've been an idiot my whole life, but it takes a special kind of stupid to mess up as bad as j have. Look I'm not promising you the world or a future, but all that matters right now is you and me. Because right now I want to be with you. What do you say?"

Crystal pursed her lips. "I guess I say I do!" Crystal smiled and kissed Jay, the whole student body clapping happily for them. In all the excitement, Audrey escaped and walked slowly to class. She was alone, seeing as everyone was enjoying the happy couple. She smiled weakly. If her best friend was happy, then so was she.

It was the end of the day at Auradon Prep and boy had it been a pretty boring day after all the excitement of the morning. Doug was gathering his books from his locker and going to go out to eat with some of his marching band buddies. He was passing the Home Ec class when he heard a frustrated sigh and Yelp form inside. He rushed inside to see Evie on the floor sobbing.

"Evie!" He said rushing to her side. He helped her up and saw that she had a serious bruise on her knee and was bleeding. She also had a lump on her head. "What happened?"

"I was sewing because I was frustrated and it's what I always do when I'm upset. I have to do it in here since Mal kicked me out of our room. And the machine broke and my shirt got sewed with the skirt I was making and I tried to get up and I fell and hit my head with the sewing machine and now everything hurts and I look as awful as I feel!" Evie said in one breath. She took a breath. "And now you're hear and you hate me and are seeing me look horrible and my makeup is probably ruined because I've crying nonstop."

Doug chuckled, wiping a year from Evie's cheek. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you." He helped Evie sit down and went to the bathroom for some paper towels and got a first aid kit. "Now this might burn a little," he said motioning to the cloth in his hand with rubbing alcohol. He place it on Evie's knee and whimpered at the burning sensation. Doug cleaned up her wound and bandaged her knee.

"Doug," Evie said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you being so nice to me when I've done nothing to deserve it?"

Doug sighed. "Because I don't hate you. And trust me, I've tried. But I can't. I still feel the same as I did the first day you stepped foot on Auradon. You were so beautiful and smart and I was just happy being your friend, but wanting to be so much more. And then prom happened and I was literally on cloud nine. And then I came crashing down when j found out about you and Ben."

"I'm so sorry, Doug." Evie cried. "I never meant for any of this to happen and I know I'm a mess and a horrible person and I don't deserve a guy like you or a friend like Mal but I promise that it meant nothing and honestly I think you should move on to some other girl who won't break your heart and is all kinds of beautiful-"

Doug cut her off by kissing her. Evie immediately melted into the kiss, realizing just how much she missed Doug. All their pent up frustration and loneliness was released into a passionate kiss that literally took eve is breath away. Evie pulled away and rested her forehead against Doug's.

"What was that for?"she asked.

Doug took her hands in his. "For everything. I forgive you. And I know you never meant to hurt me. But you did and I guess a part of me knows that hurt. But seeing you, crying a CN falling apart, made me realize that you were just as hurt. And it might take a while, but I want things to go back to the way they were before."

"You mean that?"

"I've never been been so sure of anything in my life," Doug said, staring into Evie's eyes. He had a deathly serious look in his eyes that Evie had never seen before. "What you said just now, about me moving on and finding some other girl triggered something in me. For as long as I live I don't want anyone else but you. Because you're perfect and beautiful just as you are. Because everyone makes mistakes."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Evie asked shyly. "Even with puffy red eyes and mascara down my cheek?"

"Even with puffy red eyes and mascara running down your cheek," Doug chuckled. Evie giggled and kissed him again, glad that the universe was slowly returning to its axis.


	24. Surprises

Auradon was abuzz, everyone anxious for summer. It was the last week of school and drama still remained. Mal had not spoken to Evie in who knows how long and Evie was honestly exasperated and desperate to somehow recuperate her best friend again.

"I can't do this anymore!" Evie yelled suddenly, dropping her books. Doug and Audrey jumped at the sound. Evie got up from the lunch table and started pacing.

"Ugh. She's doing it again," Audrey said, not looking up from her book.

"Evie, sweetie, maybe you should calm down," Doug said.

Evie sat plopped into her seat dramatically. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"I can't calm down! Not talking to Mal is killing me! And so is sleeping on the floor." Evie's said, rubbing her sore back.

"Sorry," Audrey apologized. "But Crystal wanted her bed back."

"Hey, speaking of Crystal, why aren't you sitting with her and your cheerleader friends?" Evie asked. Audrey turned to look at the cheerleader table. Jay was there making googly eyes at Crystal, with the whole cheer squad gushing at how cute they were.

"I just didn't feel like it," Audrey said dismissively, still looking at the table. She turned around to face her friends and saw Doug smirking. "What?"

"Could you be more obvious?" Doug asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Audrey said, poking at her salad.

"You know very well that you've been staring at Crystal and Jay this whole time," Doug teased.

"And why would I do that?" Audrey stuttered, blushing. She had been caught.

"Oh I don't know," Doug smiled. "Maybe because you have feelings for a certain someone."

"Wait! What!" Evie said. "Audrey likes Jay?"

"Seems so," Doug said.

"Doug don't start-" Audrey said.

"Audrey why didn't you tell me?" Evie interrupted.

"Audrey, you can't keep denying this forever," Doug said matter of factly.

"I'm not denying anything!"

"Sure you're not."

"I'm not!"

"I can see the look on your face!"

"What look?"

"The love stricken face."

"That's just my face!"

"Mhm."

"Doug!"

"Audrey!"

"I don't like Jay!" Audrey yelled, stabbing her lettuce with every word. They heard a crack and Audrey looked down to see her broken fork.

Doug smirked. "Your fork says otherwise."

Audrey growled under her breath, and she shot Doug a death glare. "Why can't you just leave it alone?"

Doug was not so easily scared at Audrey's attempt to be menacing. "You know you guys have chemistry."

"I know you're a science geek, but this is too much."

"So it means I'm an expert on chemistry, so I know what I'm talking about."

Audrey scoffed. "Yeah because you and relationships go hand in hand. Isn't Evie like your first girlfriend?"

Doug and Evie blushed. "That's not the point," Doug said, trying to change the subject. "The point is you can't hide your feelings forever. "

"What feelings?"Audrey said exasperated. "There are no feelings! I do not like Jay!"

"Audrey-"

"No!"

"Audrey!"

"Doug!"

"Audrey!"

"Enough!" Evie said.

"Sorry," Doug and Audrey simultaneously apologized.

"Ok, Audrey, please be you have feelings for Jay?" Evie said. She gave Audrey an understanding look.

Audrey sighed. Well she might as well tell the truth. "If I'm being completely, 100% honest, maybe." Evie lit up. "But you guys have to promise to not tell a single soul. If anybody else found out it will ruin everything."

"Aren't you being a little overdramatic?" Doug said.

"No," Audrey snapped. "I literally just got Crystal's friendship back. I don't want to lose it. And Jay and I are trying to be friends. And if anybody else found out, especially Mal, they would try to meddle and that could potentially make things worse!"

"Don't worry, my lips area sealed." Evie said.

Doug and Audrey both gave her a look. "What? I can keep a secret. Besides its not like I'm talking to Mal anyway."

"Thanks." Audrey smiled. "I would die if anybody knew that I sorta like Jay. But is probably just a silly crush, right?"

Evie and Doug gave each other a knowing look. "Sure, let's go with that," Evie giggled. Audrey shoved her and joined the laughter.

Little did they know that someone had recorded Audrey's confession.

Florian was walking out of graduation rehearsal when his phone buzzed. He received a text from an anonymous number.

Secrets have a way of coming out.

His breath hitched. They couldn't know? Could they?

"You asked to see me, Fairy Godmother?" Carlos said timidly, opening the front office door. Fairy Godmother motioned for him to sit. "I'm not in trouble am I?"

"No. No such thing at all."

"Then why did you ask to see me?"

Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and rearranged some papers on her desk. This was not an easy topic and she didn't know how to approach the subject.

"Well, Carlos," she began. "There's no easy way to say this, but your mother is not well."

Carlos scoffed. "I could've told you that. She talks to a stuffed dog for crying out loud!"

Fairy Godmother gave a small smile. "Yes I know that, but this is a more serious matter. Carlos, your mother has cancer."

Carlos's face drained of color. He gripped the sides of the chair tighter. "You're kidding right?"

Fairy Godmother gave him a sympathetic look. "I wish I was. Your mother collapsed last week and a doctor was sent to the Isle to check her and unfortunately they found that she has stage 4 leukemia. I'm so sorry."

That's when Carlos lost it. He burst into tears and ran towards Fairy Godmother 's open arms. She held him close as he cried his eyes out.

"There, there child. I know this is hard for you, but we will give your mother the best treatment Auradon has to offer." Fairy Godmother cooed. "You'll see. She'll get better and be back to her vivacious, uh unique self."

"And if she doesn't?" Carlos asked, fresh tears in his eyes.

Fairy Godmother stayed silent. For once she didn't not have an answer.

Jay was just relaxing in his room watching ASPN, Auradon Sports Program Network, when Crystal barged in screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Aaaaah!" She screamed waving around a letter. "I got it! I got it!"

"Yeah and I got hearing loss," Jay deadpanned. "Seriously Crystal, take it down a notch. Or ten."

Crystal playfully smacked him. "I'm sorry. But literally my life is going to change this moment."

"What did you do?"

Crystal handed him the letter. "A while back , I sent in an application to the National Marine Science Institute over their pre-college tour and study program and I just received the letter that says that I'm accepted!"

"That's great!" Jay said, spinning Crystal around. "This is officially the best summer ever. You get to study your science thing and I'll work on my tourney game and we'll spend the summer evening swimming at the beach. How does that sound?"

Crystal pulled away. "That's sounds great. But I can't do that."

"Oh I get it. You don't want to go to the beach. That's cool, we can go to the movies or the park or-"

"No," Crystal said, taking his hands I her own. "I can't do anything over the summer with you."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Crystal giggled. "No silly! But the program is aboard a boat where we will travel back and forth between the ocean and the institute to study marine life. It's literally the best thing that has ever happened to me!"

Jay pouted. Crystal rolled her eyes. "Well besides you."

"Wow that's great Crystal. This is like a dream come true," Jay forced a smile on his face. He was happy for his girlfriend but at the same time he was bummed to be spending the summer without her. "When do you leave?"

"Two weeks after school ends."

Jay cheered up. "That's great. We can still spend two weeks together!"

Crystal frowned. "I wish we could but my family wants to spend some time at our summer cottage with my brother before he leaves for university. Then we're driving up with him and afterwards I'm with my parents for two days before I leave."

"Oh, well when do you get back?" Jay asked.

Crystal sighed. "Five days after school starts."

"So basically you'll be gone all summer."Jay said.

Crystal held his hands. "Hey. I know you're upset but when I get back I'll make it up to you. Cheer up!"

Jay kissed her. "I just wish you didn't have to go."

"I know," Crystal giggled. "But tomorrow you can come with me and my family out to dinner after Florian's graduation."

"Sounds like you want me to meet your parents."

"Maybe," Crystal blushed.

Jay hugged her. "I'd love to."

Crystal giggled and buried her neck into his chest. Jay was happy, he was sure of it. Yet something still didn't feel right.


	25. Here Comes Goodbye

Mal groaned at the sunlight streaming through her window. She rolled over and was going to yell at Evie for forgetting to close the curtains last night, but she saw that Evie's bed was perfectly made, untouched since Mal kicked her out of their room. Mal huffed, refusing to believe that she actually missed Evie.

"No," Mal said to herself, getting up. "She deserves everything that has happened to her." She checked the time. 11:00 am. Great. She only had an hour until she had to be at graduation.

Mal finished getting ready in 33 minutes flat and made her way to the auditorium where graduation would be held. Auradon was abuzz with all of the pre-graduation commotion. Parents were taking pictures with their seniors and students were prepping to walk the stage. Mal smiled to herself. In a year she'd be doing the same. Just maybe without the best friend to talk with. But she was fine. Then again she'd also be without the parents taking pictures. She frowned. Maybe she wasn't fine.

"Jay,baby, over here!" Crystal called. She motioned for him to go take pictures with her family. Jay walked over to where the Ferdinands were. He saw Prince Florian, Snow White, and Crystal taking pictures with Florian Jr.

"Hello," Jay said, timidly. He had yet to meet Crystal's parents as her boyfriend and was extremely nervous. Florian, Sr looked him up and down with a scrutinizing eye. Jay shared a look with Crystal, and she giggled at how utterly terrified he was.

Suddenly Florian, Sr's expression changed from stern to joking. "Got ya!" He exclaimed, bring in Jay for a hug. He patted him on the back. "Welcome to the family, son. Hope I didn't scare you too much."

Jay laughed awkwardly. "Maybe a little, I must admit." He chuckled and grabbed Crystal's hand. "Now shall we take the photo?"

"Not yet," Snow White said. "We're still waiting for someone."

Who?, Jay thought.

"And there she is now," Florian Jr said.

"Hello. I'm sorry, am I late?" Jay could recognize that voice anywhere. He turned and saw Audrey making her way to them. When she saw him she stiffened and forced a smile. "Hi Jay. I didn't know you we're going to be here."

"Me either," Jay said.

"Well now that we're all here, picture time!" Florian Sr said, not noticing, or rather ignoring the tension.

Audrey was very surprised to see Jay there, but she should've expected it since he's dating her best friend. Nonetheless she had to get used to it for their benefit as well as hers. Besides, she had Florian and he made her happy.

Throughout the whole photo shoot, Jay kept giving side glances to Audrey, who completely ignored him, enamored with Florian. Jay's glare only grew.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asked.

Jay snapped his attention to his slightly irritated girlfriend. "Uh yeah, why wouldn't I be fine?"

"Because you haven't taken your eyes off of Audrey since she arrived. Are you sure there's nothing between you and her?" Crystal asked.

Jay took her hands in his owns. "Of course not. Believe me, we're just friends. I want to be with you. Don't you trust me?" Jay kissed her cheek.

Crystals look softened. "You're right. And I do trust you. It's just...I don't know..."

"Let's not worry about the others. Let's just enjoy this together."

"Everything is a little crazy isn't it?" Evie said. She was walking in the courtyard with Doug looking at all the craziness. She held his hand as they made their way to the auditorium. "This is going to be for us next year, isn't it?"

Doug chuckled. "Well for most of us. Let's just say that there's one or two kids in our grade who may not graduate anytime soon."

Evie giggled. But she stopped as soon as she made eye contact with Mal. Doug sensed the awkwardness.

"Well, I'm going to go find us some seats, okay Evie?" Doug excused himself and went inside the auditorium. Mal was about to do the same, but Evie grabbed her arm.

"Mal, wait!" Evie said.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Why? Look everything has been said that needs to be said."

"Not everything," Evie said. "Please just let me try to fix this."

Mal looked at her phone. It was 11:53. "Fine but you only have 8 minutes. You better talk fast."

Evie smiled. They sat down at a nearby bench. "Do you remember when we were little girls and we used to hate each other?"

Mal smiled and nodded. "I remember that. It wasn't even our faults. Just our mothers starting drama. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm getting there," Evie explained. "But even after all those years of completely despising each other, we became friends. And not just any friends, the best of friends. Mal I miss that."

Mal ignored her and turned her head away. She was not going to be wrapped up in all the gushy feelings stuff.

"Mal, I miss talking to each other about everything and you encouraging my fashion career while I always supported you on your art skills," Evie said. "Don't you miss that too?"

"What does it matter?" Mal said coldly. "You kissed my boyfriend Evie. Best friends don't do that!"

"Ben kissed me!" Evie cried. "I would never intentionally hurt you. Mal you mean too much to me. I wanted to tell you from the beginning but Ben said it was better to keep it a secret-"

"Wait," Mal said. "You're saying it was Ben who wanted to hide this from me?" Evie nodded. "The jerk!"

"Mal, please say you forgive me!" Evie pleaded.

"I don't know..."

"Mal don't make me beg."

"Well now that you suggested it.."

"Fine," Evie huffed. "If that's what it's going to take." She went on her news and put her hands together and but back her pride. "Mal will you please forgive me?"

Mal was laughing hysterically. "You've been forgiven."

Evie got off the floor. "Then why'd you have me humiliate myself in front of everyone?"

Mal giggled. "Cuz it was hilarious. And you kind of owe me."

Evie smiled. "I guess so. So I'm forgiven?"

"Of course!"

"Friends?" Evie asked, arms open.

"Best friends," Mal said, hugging her.

Doug poked his head out of the door. "Hate to break this little love fest, but graduation is about to begin. "

Evie gasped. "Oh of course! Let's go!"

The two of them walked hand in hand into the auditorium.

Graduation was very uneventful, well at least for Ben it was. Standing and smiling while shaking hands with 200 seniors was a drag. He saw Mal walk in with Evie, which could only mean that they made up and were friends again. He really needed to talk to her.

After graduation, there was a banquet where some awards would be handed out to special seniors. He saw Mal seated with all the rest of their friends. He knew he would be an unwanted person but he had to talk to Mal.

He went up to her seat but was stopped by Jay. "And exactly where do you think you're going?" Jay said menacingly.

"Jay calm down, I need to talk to Mal," Ben said calmly.

"Oh that's cute," Jay scoffed. "I don't think so. You hurt my best friend. Why would I let you talk to her?"

"Jay I'm begging you, please let me talk to Mal!"

"No, you'll have to go through me."

Ben ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. "Jay I'm serious. Let me talk to Mal or else?"

Jay glared at Ben. "Or else what?" Jay hissed.

Ben tried to push past Jay, but Jay pushed him back and Ben fell to the ground. Ben was now angry. He pushed past Jay again but Jay pushed him again and punched his face.

"Jay!" Mal called. She tried to separate them to no avail. Guests looked horrified at the fight that broke out. Crystal ran up and tried to push Jay back while Mal pushed Ben back.

"Jay! Ben! What has gotten into you?" Mal demanded.

"He ..started...it," Jay said, out of breath.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Crystal said, glaring at him. "Gosh Jay you're such an idiot sometimes."

Jay smiled cheekily. "Yeah but I'm your idiot." Crystal giggled and rolled her eyes.

Mal looked at Ben and winced at the sight of his swollen black eye. "Wow, Jay got you pretty good."

Ben touched his eye and winced. "I guess you could say that."

"Come on," Mal said. "You need ice, stat."

Mal led Ben to the kitchen where there was an emergency kit and ice. She grabbed a bag and filled it with ice. She handed it to Ben.

"Here. Put it on your eye carefully," she instructed. She immediately went to work on cleaning all of Ben's cuts and bruises. "Why did you and Jay even fight? You knew he could've done worse."

Ben sighed. "I wanted to talk to you but Jay wasn't having any of it."

"Why'd you need to talk to me?" Mal questioned, sitting down next to him.

Ben turned to look at her. "Because I'm an idiot and I messed up everything between you and Evie and you and I. I hope you can forgive me," Ben apologized.

Mal smiled. "I do forgive you." Ben leaned in to kiss her. "But.."

"But.."

Mal sighed and got up. "That still doesn't change the fact that you cheated on me with my best friend and kissed her. It also doesn't excuse the fact that you wants to hide this from me."

"Mal.."

"Look. I forgive you. I really do, but I think it's best we stay friends for now. I need time to think about things, okay?" Mal said.

Ben gave a weak smile. "I understand."

Mal hugged him. " I knew you'd understand.".

She turned and left the kitchen, leaving a very disappointed Ben.

"Jay I cannot believe you fought Ben," Crystal said for the 100th time.

Jay rolled his eyes."I told you, I had to defend Mal's honor!"

"Mala honor?" Audrey laughed, approaching them. "You're not exactly the knight in shining armor type."

"You just haven't seen it, princess," Jay joked.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Well if this is it, there's not much." Jay had a look of indignation and Audrey giggled. "Well this has been fun, but I'm off to find my prince, Florian. See you guys later."

Jay's expression soured at the mention of Florian's name. And Crystal noticed. Audrey left them and Crystal thought it was the right time to finally be honest.

"Jay, are you sure there's nothing between you and Audrey?" She asked.

Jay looked at her curiously. "Didn't we cover this? There's nothing there."

Crystal frowned. "Do you wish there was?"

Jay looked incredulously at her. "What?"

"You heard time."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you jealous of Florian?"

"Why would I be?"

"Jay.."

"Sure he's rich and handsome but I wouldn't say-"

"Jay just tell me! Do you like Audrey? Yes or no?"

Jay stared at his girlfriend who looked frazzled by her sudden outburst.

"You want the truth," he asked.

Crystal bit back tears. "Yes. The truth."

"Honestly, I'm not sure."

Crystal bit her lip, trying to contain her tears to no avail. "Well until you're certain I don't think we should continue this if you're not even sure of you feelings for me."

"Crystal-"

"No. This is hard as is. Don't make it harder than it has to be," Crystal said. "Look, I'm gonna be gone all summer. That plenty of time to figure out what you want Jay. So goodbye for now." She kissed his cheek and left in tears.

Jay sat on a nearby tree stump and looked wistfully at Crystal's retreating figure. He then turned to see a happy Audrey and Florian. He put his head in his hands knowing he had to make some decisions.

Audrey was so happy with Florian. She hasn't been this happy with a guy since J- since a while.

"I can't believe you graduated today," she said.

Florian smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, about that."

"It's amazing that you're going to University next fall," Audrey kept babbling.

"Audrey!" Florian said. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About us?"

"What about us?"

"I don't think there should be an us if I'm going to college," Florian admitted.

Audrey let go of his hand. "But we can make it work. Long distance isn't forever."

Florian sighed. "You know a lot of long distance relationships don't work out."

"But we can try!"

"Audrey, I'm going to college. I don't need a high school relationship keeping me from enjoying college," Florian said.

Audrey winced from his words. "Oh so I'm just in your way?"

"No, Audrey, wait. That's not what I meant-"

"That's exactly what you meant!" Audrey yelled. "If I'm such a bother then I guess you're right and we should end this!"

"Audrey-"

"Goodbye!"

"Do you have to go?" Carlos asked, close to tears. He held on to Jane's hands as they were saying their goodbyes. Jane was very thin and looked sick. Her jolly disposition and rosy glow were gone, and as much as Carlos didn't want her to leave, he knew she needed help. Evie and Doug were there for moral support, and besides Mal, were the only ones who knew the extent of Jane's sickness.

Jane gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure." She giggled. "I'm going to miss you guys so much."

"We will too," Evie said crying. She gave her a hug and turned away to keep Jane from seeing her tears. "Sorry Mal couldn't be here, she had some Ben drama."

"I totally understand,"Jane said.

Doug cane up to her and gave her a giant bear hug. "I'm going to miss your superior intelligence beating me at chess every day."

Jane giggled. "And I'm going to miss beating you at chess every day."

Finally it was Carlos's turn. "You know, next to Jay, you might be my best friend ever," Carlos said. Jane smiled. He hugged her. "I'll miss you," he whispered in her ear.

They pulled apart and Jane kissed his cheek. She gave a small wave and got into the car with her mother.

"I'll be back tomorrow for the last day if classes," Fairy Godmother said. "Behave yourselves children."

"We will."

Audrey wandered around campus for who knows how long. People had already left and Florian left on his way to college without so much as a goodbye. Crystal went along so she couldn't talk to her about it. So she did the next best thing; she sat on a nearby bench and cried.

It hurt so bad that Florian had broken up with her.

"Are you okay?" She heard someone ask. She looked up to see a teary eyed Jay.

"I'm fine," Audrey said, wiping her tears. Jay sat next to her. "So what happened to you?"

"Crystal dumped me," he answered.

"Oh."

"You?"

"Florian dumped me."

"Oh."

"Why'd Crystal break up with you?"

"Why did Florian dump you?"

"I asked you first," Audrey laughed, nudging him.

"We didn't really see eye to eye, I guess you could say," Jay said. Not to mention she thought I had feelings for you. "What about you?"

Audrey sighed. "Apparently, our relationship would tie him down in college. But I thought I meant more to him. Guess I was wrong," she ended softly.

"Hey," Jay said, lifting her chin. "He's an idiot to not appreciate what he had. But now you're single and have the whole summer to start anew."

Audrey laughed dryly. She looked down at her hands. "Yeah I don't think so. At least not know. It just still hurts you know. I mean, have you ever felt hopeless because there's someone you want to be with but just can't?"

Jay looked at Audrey fiddling with her fingers. "Yeah, I know exactly how that feels."

Classes had finally ended at Auradon and summer was waiting. The gang of as enjoying their afternoon at the enchanted lake, relaxing after and exhausting drama filled year. Things were relatively back to normal even though there was an awkwardness between Ben's Mr Mal and iciness between Chad and Lonnie.

"So any summer plans?" Ben asked, trying to break the tension.

"None," Evie said. "I mean it's not like we exactly have a home to return to and relax."

Jay and Carlos agreed. "Well I'm free this summer," Audrey said. "Usually mother and daddy take me on a fun trip, but this year is their 20th anniversary and excuse me but I don't want to intrude in their love fest."

"Normally I hit the coal mines as a summer job and work with my dad and uncles," Doug said. "But if I have an excuse, I'll gladly do anything else. "

Ben laughed. "Well then it's settled how about we all go to my family's summer home in the country. It's right on a lake and has access to a beach by foot. Also there's some mountains not too far away for hiking, mountain climbing or whatever we want to do."

"That's sounds fun," Chad said.

"Yeah," everyone agreed.

"Actually," mal said. "I can't go."

"Mal, you have summer plans?" Evie asked.

"You do?" Ben asked.

Mal shrugged. "Yeah, I signed up for an art course over the summer where I get to stay in the city and work on my art. It lasts the whole summer."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ben asked.

"Because we aren't dating when I signed up," Mal said.

"Oh," Ben said. "Well I'm.. happy for you." He jumped into the water and began swimming away as fast as he could.

"He took that pretty well," Mal said before leaving the lake. She heard footsteps behind her and saw that it was Evie, not Ben.

"Are you really going to that art thing Mal?" She asked.

"Yeah," Mal sighed. She looked around. "I think I just need a break from this place, from Auradon."

"From Ben?"

"Yeah..."


End file.
